tTLEn&NTS  ^  SqE-NC^ 


MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

GIFT  OF 

WILLIM   P.   WKEDHN 


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Jh^lements  of  3cience 


Moral  and  Religious. 


A.  Text  Book  kor  Schools  and 
General  Use. 


* 


BY 

S.  A.  JEWETT,  M.  A. 


^riPtirp  '"  "^^  ^^^^'  ''''"  "'^  ''^'  ^^^  ^   character  of 
necessity  and  universality  of  thought  that 
admits  not  of  one-sided  or  sectarian  views. 


FLEMING  H.   REVELL, 

CHICAGO:  I  NKW    YORK: 

148  AND  150  Madison  Street.    |  12  Bible  Hol'se,  Astor  Place. 


Kiiltrcd  accordinj^  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  yc;ir  iSrjC,  by 

FLEMING    II.    REVELL, 

In  the  t^ffict:  of  liu-  Lilir^irian  of  Conjrress,  at  Washington. 

All  Rights  Reserved. 


PRKKAGB. 


This  book  is  designed  to  meet  a  want  that  has  always  existed, 
and  is  now  realized,  namelj:  such  treatment  and  presentation  of 
Moral  Philosophy  as  fits  it  for  public  school  instruction  in  morals 
and  religion  without  sectarian  bias. 

Recent  and  earnest  discussion  in  the  leading  quarterlies  and 
other  periodicals  is  a  sure  index  of  the  importance  of  the  subject, 
and  of  public  interest  in  it. 

There  is  but  one  way  to  effect  this:  It  is  to  point  out  the  true 
idea  in  morals  and  in  religion,  and  their  relation  to  each  other. 
In  other  words,  to  present  the  true  underl_\  ing  principles. 

In  treatises  on  moral  philosophy  there  is  diversity  as  to  the 
basis  of  morals.  Pleasure,  happiness,  utility,  the  fitness  of  things, 
law,  divine  and  human,  are  severally  set  up.  These,  indeed,  are 
more  or  less  auxiliary  in  the  formation  of  moral  character,  but 
the  underlying  principle  in  morals  is  to  be  found  in  the  disposi- 
tion to  do  ris^fit;  in  the  love  of  the  right;  in  the  good  will,  the 
will  obedient  to  the  right,  and  existing  in  the  moral  nature  that 
demands  the  exercise  of  the  good  will,  demands  duty. 

'i'his  accords  with  the  philosophy  of  Immanuel  Kant,  Aris- 
totle, and  also  with  higher  authority — that  of  Jesus  -  who  always 
lefcrs  us  to  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart  as  the  source 
from  which  are  the  issues  of  life. 

Without  this  good-will,  there  can  be  no  true  moral  act.  With 
it  there  must  also  be  intelligence  to  direct  the  activities  of  the 
good  will. 

This  moral  intelligence  we  have  from  two  sources: 
(t)  The  sr1f-evidc7it\  as,  for  instance,  it  is  immediately  e\idcnt 
to  any  man  of  good  common  sense  that  it  would  be  right  to  obey 
Cod. 

(j)  From  the  triir  idea  in  anv  thought,  sentiment,  law,  institu- 
tion or  moral  object. 

3 


682703 


4  PR  El  ALE. 

Man's  liighest  end  or  chief  good  is,  then,  in  a  true  moral  nature, 
having  moral  truth  in  its  activities. 

This  principle,  then — the  true  moral  nature — acting  from  self- 
evident  and  ideal  truth,  must  run  through  the  warp  and  woof  of 
all  reasoning  in  constructive  moral  science. 

The  idea,  the  tvpe — universal  law — is  the  philosopher's  stone 
that  discloses  all  truth.  When  he  discovers  it  he  sees  its  beauty; 
his  soul  is  enlarged,  and  is  transplanted  from  a  condition  of 
bondage  into  a  realm  of  liberty.  He  sees  a  solvent  for  all  the 
vexed  questions  of  life,  in  its  religious,  moral,  educational,  social, 
civil  and  political  aspects,  and  he  rejoices  in  it. 

The  Introduction  finds  distinctive  ground  in  morality  and  re- 
ligion, yet  an  inseparable  and  intertwining  growth  of  both  in  the 
soul,  draws  a  clear  line  of  distinction  between  natural  and  re- 
vealed religion,  yet  so  that  natural  religion,  together  with  moral 
considerations,  naturally  tend  towards  and  lead  up  to  spiritual 
tabernacles  and  to  the  entrance  to  Divine  revelations. 

This  affinity  in  morals  and  religion  marks  the  place  of  religion 
in  public  school  instruction;  and  this  distinction  between  the 
natural  and  the  revealed  shows  a  line  of  demarcation  between 
the  work  of  religious  instruction  in  the  schoolroom  and  in  the 
church. 

The  intention  is  to  exhibit  moral  science  on  a  religious-moral 
ground — not  specifically  Christian.  The  phrase  "Christian  eth- 
ics" is  sometimes  used  in  a  too  exclusive  sense,  as  though  there 
were  no  other  ethics  of  any  value;  but  the  teaching  of  Jesus  and 
the  apostles  by  no  means  ignores  moral  truth  from  other  sources. 
The  splendid  contributions  of  ancient  philosophy,  of  the  Gen- 
tile world,  as  well  as  Old  Testament  law,  are  all  referred  to  as  a 
part  of  a  grand  system  of  ethics  to  which  Christianity  is  com- 
plementary and  is  essentially  necessary  to  fulfil  the  moral  law. 
Tills  recognition  of  Gentile  philosophy  was  not  necessary  on  the 
ground  that  a  complete  science  of  morality  is  not  deducible  from 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  but  is  necessary,  and  is  not  to  be 
lost  sight  of,  on  the  ground  that  man,  ho\vever  demoralized,  is  in 
the  image  of  God,  and  naturally  there  flames  out  from  the 
(livmily  in  him  fitful  fires  of  moral  truth. 

Hut  it  is  liiis  acknowleilgmcnt  by  Jesus  of  what  is  universal  in 
man   that  proves  the   roundness  and   completeness  of   his  own 


PRE  FA  CE. 


character.  It  is  with  this  knowledge  of  what  is  in  man,  and  this 
perfect  idea  of  the  moral  law,  that  our  Lord  says,  "Think  not 
that  I  am  come  to  destroy  the  law  or  the  propliets.  I  am  not 
come  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil." 

Jesus  then  goes  on  to  define  the  moral  law  more  particularly, 
and  to  exhibit  its  true  idea,  according  to  which  causeless  anger  is 
at  the  root  of  murder,  and  adultery  is  in  the  heart;  the  law  of 
divorce  is  restricted  and  the  "Love  thy  neighbor,  hate  thine 
enemy"  is  transformed  into  "Love  thine  enemies." 

The  true  idea  of  charity-,  or  alms-giving  in  a  private  way,  he 
distinguishes  from  the  pharisaical  and  false  one  of  "soimding  a 
trumpet.'" 

In  religion,  also,  he  distinguishes  the  true  spirit  of  prayer  from 
its  vain  form;  and  at  the  same  time  gives  a  form  of  prayer  which 
all  men  admire  as  natural  and  true,  and  hence  it  is  of  imiversal 
acceptance. 

Paul,  too,  in  the  epistle  to  the  Romans,  declares  that  "what 
men  may  know  of  God  is  manifest  in  themselves;  that  the  Gen- 
tiles, which  have  not  the  law,  at  times  do  by  nature  the  things 
contained  in  the  law.  and  show  the  work  of  the  law  written  in 
their  hearts." 

This,  then,  is  the  attitude  of  Christian  teaching  towards  mo- 
rality and  religion.  It  supplies  \vhat  is  lacking  in  prior  views  and 
doctrines;  it  annuls  nothing  that  is  in  agreement  with  the  consti- 
tution of  God  or  the  true  nature  of  man. 

This  is  recognized  even  by  J.  S.  Mill,  who  at  times  indulges  in 
caricature  and  misrepresentation;  but  in  a  mood  of  right  reason 
he  writes  thus: 

"I  believe  that  the  savings  of  Christ  are  all  that  I  can  see  any 
evidence  of  their  having  been  intended  to  be;  that  they  are 
irreconcilable  with  nothing  which  a  comprehensive  morality  re- 
(juires;  that  everything  which  is  excellent  in  ethics  may  be 
brought  within  them." 

American  institutions  should  foster  individual  independence 
and  self-reliance,  for  these  qualities  are  necessary'  in  the  true  idea 
ot  a  citizen  of  a  republic.  A  man  that  has  no  independence  of 
thought  and  action  is  poorly  equipped  for  doing  his  duty  to  the 
State:  so  the  young  in  our  land  need  first  to  be  taught  as  to  the 
jioints  of  agreement  in  human  nature — the  necessary  and  uni 


PRE  FA  CE. 


versal  principles  that  pertain  to  it;  when  indoctrinated  in  what 
pertafns  to  common  interests,  a  sure  foundation  has  been  laid  for 
well  balanced  thought  and  feeling. 

But  the  tendency  of  all  sectarian  schooling  is  to  bias  the  child 
by  the  presentation  of  narrow  views  of  duty  to  God  and  man. 
"Just  as  the  twig  is  bent  the  tree's  inclined,"  and  this  childhood 
l)ias  dwarfs  the  man.  The  soul  of  man  naturally  inclines  to 
feelings  of  sj-mpath}-.  In  view  of  this  ideal,  the  frequent  inquiry 
is:  how  shall  the  brotherhood  of  man  be  cultivated  and  promoted; 
how  shall  we  be  able  to  conform  to  the  Scripture  injunction  "to 
look  not  each  one  upon  his  own,  but  each  also  upon  the  things  of 
his  neighbor?"  Evidently  Ibis  culture  comes  neither  through 
secularity  nor  sectarianism,  for  secularity  fixes  the  thought  and 
interest  upon  mere  afiairs  of  the  world,  and  sectarian  culture  in 
sectarian  schools  tends  directly  to  erect  barriers,  to  build  up 
division  walls,  and  to  separate  brethren  instead  of  promoting 
brotherly  love  and  the  sentiment  of  a  common  origin  and  a  com- 
mon destiny  for  man. 

Je-vett  Mills.,    Wis.  S.  A.  Jewett. 


The  Synopsis  is  made  somewhat  full  to  give  teacher  and 
scholar  the  clue  to  the  method  of  bringing  out  the  text  in 
recitation;  yet  not  so  full  but  that  observation  and  remark  will  be 
suggested  and  elicited.  They  are  in  aid  of  obtaining  and  of  re- 
taining distinct  views. 

The  Expla.v.\tory  Notes  arc  to  obviate  any  difficulty  the 
student  might  encounter  in  clearly  apprehending  ideas  and  forms 
of  expression  peculiar  to  Moral  Science,  and  necessary  to  a  con- 
cise and  distinct  presentation  of  it.  The  notes  Avill  also  suggest 
to  teacher  and  scholar  other  related  ideas,  and  thus  enliven  tiie 
recitation  and  add  interest  to  the  study. 


CONTENTS 


PART  FIRST. 
DIVISION  I.     INTRODUCTOnr  PRINCIPLES. 

SECTION. 

1.  Grolxd  Principle,    ....... 

2.  Cicero  ix   De  Officiis 

3.  Ancient  Philosophy:    Plato 

4.  The  Leadings  of  Nature:    Alle.;<)rv  of  the  \'ine 

5.  The  Labyrinth  of  Thought  .... 
(>.  Kant:    His  Ethic  Ground-Principle 

7.  "The  Good:"    The  Good- Will,  the  Sumimini-hnnuni 

8.  Morality   and  Religion:    How  ri'latini 

9.  The  Slpernatural:    In  Religion,  in  Nature. 

10.  The  Supreme  Cause 

11.  The  Sum  of  the  Argument.         .... 

DIVISION  II.     PRINCIPLES:  PSVCIflC  AND  .MORAL 

\2.  The  Nature  of  Man 

13.  Moral  Philosophy:    Its  Laws 

Moral  Science       ....... 

Moral   Law  ....... 

Written   Moral   Laws 

Religion:    Natural  Religion        .... 

Focal  Points  in  the  Argument 

The  Conscience 

The  Office  and  the  Power  of  the  Conscience 

The  Authority  of  the  Conscience   . 

Note  on  the  Conscience 

The  Function  of  the  Wili 

Appetites;   Desires;  Affections      .         .         .         . 

Love:    Love  of  God;  of  Country;  of  Golil 

Self- Love         . 


M 


-9 


.19 
4^ 
4.1 
4.S 

4r, 

49 

5- 

.=;4 

(^ 
73 
74 

7S 


CONTENTS. 


27.  L()\1C    TO    THE    NEIGIIliOR    ......  80 

28.  Thk  Grol  nd  or   Di  ty So 

29.  The  Ground  ok  Riciii 83 

30.  The  Secondary  Grol  nd  of  Rkjht  .         .         .  .86 

31.  Pkinh  ii'i,e;  Practice          ......  87 

1,2.  Vwnr  '1'holghts  in  the  Principles    ...  88 

33.  Exposition  of  the  Metaphysics  of  Morals    ,  .      90 


PART    SECOND. 

D 1 1  'ISIO.X  L     E  THICS. 

34.  Ethics:    The  Practical;  Its  Source  in  Principles    .         .  97 

3^.  Stringent  Laws 99 

36.  The  Beatitudes loi 

37.  The  Virtues loS 

38.  The  Sentiments    .         . liJ 

Dn'ISION  II.     DUTl';  DUTIES. 

39.  Duty  the  Element  in  all   Moral  Relation      .  127 

40.  Duties   to  God  ;    Obedience  ;    Prayer  ;    Praise  ; 

Love  ;  Faith  ;  IIoi'i;  ;    Duties  to   Man    .         .  128 

41.  Individual   Duties         .......  135 

42.  Parental   Dutiics       .......  147 

4].  Social   Duties          ........  149 

44.  The  Ethics  of   Amusements  .....  152 

DIVISIOX  III.     POLITIC .\L  ETHICS. 

4v  CJi  NF.KAi.   \'iE\v:   Special   Applications           .         .         ■  '54 

4''..  The  SuiiSTANCE  of  Liberty  .....  1 58 

47.  Reli(;ious   Liberty         .......  lAi 

48.  Personal   Liberty iC)3 

49.  Rii.ii'is:    (Jeneral  \ic\v 164 

yi.   Pkoi'i-kiy    Ri<;ii'is:    (ifneral  \'ie%v    ....  \((^ 

51.  Till.  Okkwn  oi-    I^k.ht  to  Property         .         .         .  if'iS 

£;2.   Land  Tuili'.   in    iiii     I'mti:!)   States     .         .         .  170 

53.   IJlackstone  on    Mil     Rk.ii'i    to   Property        .         .  173 

i;4.  Civil   Liiieri  v;  Ci\ii.   Rk.iiis         ....  177 

5S-  Civil    Duties 178 

<;''>    Oiii  nil  NCI     10    Law    .         .         .         .         .         .         .  179 


CONTENTS. 


57.  The  DiTY  ov  Interkst  in   Civii.  Aiiaiks  .  181 

58.  Siffrage:    a  Conditioned  Riglit;  The  Ethics  of  it     .  1S3 

59.  Liberty  of  Speech    .......  184 

60.  Leo    XIII    ox  "Liberty  of  Sfeech — of  Press"  .  18S 

61.  Veracity:    The  Oath;   Honesty;   Lee.it     Casuistry     .  190 
f>j.   Repltation 199 

BI  ]  'ISIOX  1 1 '.     /.\  s  77  T(  ■  TlOiXS. 

63.  IxsTITLTIOXS    as    to    ORUilN     AND    CHARACTER       .  200 

64.  The   Idea   ix  the  Ixstititiox    .....  J03 

()^      IXSTITITIOXS    AS    NATIRAL.    LOGICAL,    ARTIFICIAL  2O5 

66.  The  Sabbath 210 

67.  Origin'   of   Sabbath 213 

68.  Time  of  Rest  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         ■  -'5 

69.  Trie  Observance     .*       .         .         .         .         .         .  217 

70.  The  Tree  Sabbath        .......  218 

71.  Sl  IMMARY     as    to    THE    S  A  I!  B  \  IH  - 1)  A  V     InSTITITIOX  221 

72.  Lechseation    Sabbatical      ......  224 

73.  ThoL(.his   on    the   Sabbai  II    i:v  IJisiioi'  \\  iiately  225 

74.  Marriage:    Autlioritv;  Law    ......  226 

75.  Re(^i  irements   for   the   ^L\l<KIA(,I:   Ivi.latiox   .  22S 

76.  Prerei^iisite  (^  alifk  ai  ions 231 

77.  Divorce 2t,^ 

78.  The  Theocracy 234 

79.  T>ie   State:    Orit;in;  Idea;  Ohjeet      ....  236 
So.  The  Chcrch:    Union  of  Church  and  State  .         .         .  23S 

81.  Disadvantages  OF   a   Chirch   and  Siatk    I'niox  240 

82.  PiBLic   Edlcatiox 242 

83.  Family;    State — Which.- 244 

84.  Capital;   Labor:    The   Idea 245 

85.  Uxiox   oi'  Capital;   Union  of   Labor.         .         .  249 

86.  The   Union    as  a   Regllator  oi-   \\'a(,es         .         .  250 
8-7.  Capital  Combination   as  Abnormal           .         .  ^'^.z 

88.  The   Labor   Union   as   Abnormal      ....  252 

89.  The  Si  m   and  the  Moral:    Sui(<;estions  i  aiul  2  .  254 

90.  PiBLic  EnrcATiox •  -5'^' 

Explanatory   Notes •  -^'^ 

Till'.   Synopsis  .....•■•  -77 

Index .^"3 


PART   FIRST. 


DIVISION  I.     INTRODUCTORY  PRINCIPLES. 

I.  Ground-Principle. — Most  people  are  con- 
tent with  any  doctrine  or  theory  of  morals  and 
religion,  provided,  as  they  say,  the  practice  be  good. 
Doctrine  is  nothing;  theory  nothing;  practice  is  all 
in  all. 

Yet,  in  truth,  it  is  the  act  that  follows  the  thought 
—  not  the  thought  the  act.  We  must  think  right  if 
we  would  do  right.  All  great  events  and  fruitful 
judgments,  right  or  wrong,  have  first  been  generated 
in  thought. 

Locke's  theory  of  sense-knowledge,  or  of  sensation 
as  the  ground  of  knowledge,  gave  occasion  for  David 
Hume's  skeptical  philosophy;  that  is,  for  Hume's 
questioning  the  certainty  of  any  and  all  knowledge, 
for  this  was  the  logical  result  of  Locke's  erroneous 
theory,  though  Locke  practically  was  no  skeptic. 

Lnmanuel  Kant'  at  once  saw  the  necessity  for 
quite  a  different  origin  as  the  ground-principle  of 
knowledge,  and  in  his  famous  Critique  established 
this  ground-principle  within  the  mind  —  not,  like 
Locke,  outside  of  it. 

just  as  in  the  science  of  intellect  we  stand  in  need 

^This  word  Kant  and  otliers  thus  noted  refer  to  Explaiiatory 
Notes. 


12  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

of  a  ground-principle  that  insures  certitude — such 
certitude  as  is  assured  by  the  reference  of  Kant's 
categories^  of  thought  to  a  subjective,  innate,  or 
a  priori  origin;  just  so  in  the  science  of  morals  we 
must  look  for  a  ground-principle  that  lies  wholly 
within  the  constitution  of  the  soul,  else  we  find 
ourselves  at  sea  upon  the  great  problems  of  life, 

2.  Cicero  in  De  Opticus.— Cicero'  in  DeOfficiis'' 
notices  that  in  philosophy  there  are  many  weighty 
and  useful  matters  critically  and  copiously  discussed, 
especially  upon  questions  of  duty  as  traditional, 
and  as  taught  by  the  philosophers.  For,  says  Cicero, 
there  is  no  part  of  life,  neither  public  nor  private, 
whether  you  would  deaF  with  yourself  or  whether 
you  would  transact  business  with  another,  from 
which  it  is  possible  to  exclude  duty. 

In  the  culture  of  duty  there  are  builded  all  the 
virtues  of  life ;  in  its  neglect  is  all  baseness. 

But  there  are  some  schools*  that,  when  the  domain 
of  morals  is  surveyed,  pervert  all  duty ;  for  whoever 
so  institutes^  the  chief-good"^  that  he  has  nothing 
conjoined  with  virtue,  and  measures  it  by  his  own 
profit  —  not  by  what  is  honest  —  he,  if  he  is  con- 
sistent with  himself,  and  is  not  meanwhile  bound 
by  the  excellency'  of  nature,  can  cultivate  neither 
friendship  nor  justice  nor  liberality. 

Surely  in  no  manner  is  he  able  to  be  truly  brave 
who  judges  pain  to  be  the  greatest  evil ;  nor  can  he 
be  truly  temperate  who  sets  up  pleasure  as  the 
chief-good.  These  philosophical  systems,  then,  if 
they  would  be  consonant  with  themselves,  can  say 


CICERO  IN  DE  OFFICIIS.  13 

nothing  about  duty;  nor  can  any  stable  princi|)lc  of 
duty  conjoined  to  nature  be  put  on  record,  except 
by  those  who  say  that  Jioncsty"  is  to  be  sought  on 
account  of  itself  alone. 

Cicero's  Division  of  the  Question:  "The  whole 
question  of  duty  is  twofold:  One  kind  pertains  to 
the  Chief-good ;  the  other  is  placed  in  Precepts,  to 
which  in  every  relation  the  course  of  our  lives  must 
be  conformed.  Examples  of  the  higher  kind  are  of 
this  sort,  namely:  Can  all  duties  be  perfected?  Is 
one  duty  greater  than  another?  As  to  the  precep- 
tive duties,  they  indeed  pertain  somewhat  to  the 
chief-good;  yet  this  is  less  apparent  because  they 
seem  rather  to  regard  the  regulation  of  ordinary 
life." 

This  division  by  Cicero  of  the  "  Question  of  Duty  " 
into  two  kinds  is  of  great  value.  It  is  the  same  as 
that  attempted  by  all  ethic  writers  —  a  division  into 
Principles  and  the  Practical.  It  is  a  generic  distinc- 
tion that  marks  the  limit  between  what  we  know  in 
the  domain  of  duty  by  prudential  considerations  and 
wise  conclusions  drawn  from  experience  and  what 
we  know  through  the  moral  and  religious  sensibilities 
enlightened  by  the  logic  of  the  understanding  and 
the  reasoning  faculties. 

The  great  search  was  and  is  for  an  underlying  prin- 
ciple as  the  ground  of  duty,  having  the  character  of 
certitude.'* 

In  his  enrapt,  sublime  contemplation  of  honesty, 
truth  and  virtue,  Cicero  eloquently  exclaims:  You 
may  see,  O  son  Marcus'",  the  ver)-  form,  and,  as  it 
were,   the  features"    of   virtue,    which,    could    they 


II  MORAL  AND  RELKilOUS  SCIENCE. 

indeed  be  looked  upon  with  mortal  eyes,  would,  as 
Plato  says,  excite  in  us  wonderful  desires  for  wis- 
dom's ways;  for  what  is  more  desirable  than  wisdom  ! 
What  more  excellent ;  what  better  for  man  ;  what 
worthier  of  man !  Hence  those  who  seek  this  arc 
called  philosophers.  Nor  is  philosophy  any  other 
thing — if  you  will  to  define  it  —  than  the  love  and 
the  study  of  wisdom.  To  say  that  there  is  no  science 
of  things  chief  in  interest,  while  none  of  those  of  least 
moment  are  destitute  of  art,  and  independent  of 
skill  and  knowledge,  is  the  speech  of  men  lacking  in 
consideration  and  erring  in  matters  of  the  highest 
import. 

3.  Ancient  Philosophy.  —  Ancient  philosophy 
comes  very  near  to  a  true  science  of  morals  when  it 
inquires  of  nature  for  prfnciples.  Plato'  sought  in 
nature  herself  the  philosophy  of  right  living,  and 
held  that  the  chief-good  consists  in  receiving  from 
nature  everything  requisite  for  life,  to-wit:  health, 
strength  and  beauty  for  the  body ;  and  as  to  the 
excellences  of  the  mind,  he  noted  a  natural  aptitude 
in  learning,  and  faculties  or  disposition  suited  to  the 
comprehension  of  virtue,  by  which  a  continued 
advance  is  made  toward  virtue.  Virtue  completed 
is  a  perfection  of  nature  as  to  the  mind— and  is  the 
chief-good. 

This  philosophy  placed  a  happy  life  in  virtue  alone, 
yet  not  the  happiest  possible  unless  the  good  quali- 
ties of  the  body  are  added  to  it ;  namcl}^,  tliose 
things  that  should  increase  and  maintain  virtue; 
weallli,    power,    innucnce,    society,   the    state,    and 


A  jv  CI  en  r  ruiL  us  urn  i '. 


whatever  else  helps  or  aids  in  acquiring  a  habit  of 
virtue.. 

From  this  view  and  exposition  of  the  highest  end 
in  morals  there  arises  a  certain  principle  of  action 
in  life,  and  principle  of  duty,  which  consists'  in  the 
preservation  of  those  things  which  nature  prescribes. 

In  the  doctrine  of  Plato,  three  kinds  of  good  tend 
to  make  the  chief-good : 

1.  Living  well  in  obedience  to  nature. 

2.  Excellences  of  the  mind,  including  the  disposi- 
tion. 

3.  Conditions  which  unite  men  in  social  relations 
under  favoring  circumstances.  From  this  third  kind 
Plato  elaborated  his  ideal  republic.^ 

The  educational  scheme  of  Plato  commenced  with 
a  course  of  study  having  special  regard, 

1.  To  the  moral  training  of  youth. 

2.  To  the  training  of  their  bodies — the  due  de- 
velopment of  the  physical  powers. 

The  first,  the  moral  training,  consisted  largely  in 
music  and  poetry  selected  with  strict  reference  to 
its  moral  tone.  Truth  in  literature  was  required  by 
Plato,  and  truth  to  man's  highest  nature  was  re- 
quired in  the  nature  and  character  ascribed  to  the 
gods — the  heathen  divinities  worshiped  by  the 
Greeks. 

Thus  Plato's  idea  of  education  was  something 
more  than  a  drawing  out  and  development  of  the 
child's  mental  faculties.  It  meant  not  only  this,  but 
it  meant'  also  a  purified  soul,  by  excluding  whatever 
was  low,  vulgar,  frivolous  in  song  and  poetry,  and 
whatever  is  unreal,  untrue,   fictitious   and    false  in 


16  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

literature  and  art,  and  whatever  tends  to  intemper- 
ance and  excess  ;  and  by  exercising  the  vocal,  mental 
and  moral  faculties  in  the  contemplation,  study  and 
use  of  whatever  in  music,  literature  and  art  was 
recommended  by  sound  reason  and  good  taste.  For 
further  development  of  the  mind  in  truth  and  the 
love  of  it,  Plato  prescribed  the  study  of  exact 
science — geometry.  The  logical  use  of  the  reasoning 
faculty  completed  the  course  of  the  young  man  des- 
tined to  take  part  in  the  conduct  of  political  affairs, 
and  as  a  ruler  in  the  service  of  the  state. 

Value  of  this  Ideal :  Plato's  scheme  is  good  and 
true  so  far  as  it  goes.  It  is  chiefly  defective  in  its 
narrow  view  of  the  needs  of  the  State,  which  require 
not  only  cultured  rulers,  but  cultured  citizens  as 
well. 

The  morals  of  the  Greeks  and  of  the  heathen 
world  at  large,  in  Plato's  view,  and  as  all  see  it,  were 
indexed  and  strongly  determined  by  the  character 
ascribed  to  their  gods — necessarily  endow^ed  like 
men  with  the  virtues  and  the  vices  of  men — a  mere 
deification  of  the  good  and  the  gross  in  man. 

Hence  the  heathen  god  is  no  beau-ideal  of  virtue ; 
and  the  tendency  is  to  reconcile  men  to  those  vices 
which  they  see  in  their  gods. 

4.  The  Leadings  of  Nature. — Greek  philoso- 
phy endeavors  to  show  the  way  to  the  source  of 
the  chief-good  by  citing  us  to  the  leadings  of  nature,  in 
the  animal  and  vegetable  kingdoms;  thus,  "every 
animal  loves  itself  and  labors  to  preserve  itself,  for 
this   is  its  first   natural  impulse.     Each  animal,  ac- 


THE  LEADINGS  OF  NATURE.  17 

cording  to  its  own  peculiar  nature,  has  its  own 
peculiar  chief-good — the  lion  one  way  or  use  of  life; 
the  lamb  another  way.  Yet  there  is  a  generic  sense 
in  which  the  chief-good  is  common  to  all,  namely,  to 
live  (recording  to  nature. 

Hence  we  can  understand  that  the  chief  or  highest 
good  to  man  is  to  live  according  to  the  nature  of  man, 
when  that  nature  is  perfected  and  in  need  of  nothing. 

Now,  to  apply  this  principle  to  self-preservation 
and  a  life  according  to  nature,  to  man's  ethic  char- 
acter, we  can  say  that  man  through  his  moral  nature 
loves  to  preserve  himself  as  a  moral  being. 

The  Grape-Vine  in  Allegory':  This  doctrine  of 
man's  living  according  to  nature  is  finely  and  forcibly 
presented  and  illustrated  in  Cicero's  De  Finibus^  by 
an  allegorical  representation  of  the  condition  and 
needs  of  the  vine — first  in  its  own  vegetable  kingdom 
and  native  state,  as  a  wild  vine  with  little  capacity 
and  power  to  preserve  and  develop  itself,  and  as 
needing  the  care  and  aid  of  an  expert  vine-dresser  to 
trim  its  tendrils,  and  to  bring  out  its  latent  vigor  of 
growth  and  capacity  for  producing  its  own  generous 
fruit.  Now,  in  lieu  of  the  vine-dresser  and  his  culti- 
vating hand,  let  us  endow  the  vine  itself  with  hands 
and  with  instinctive  sense-faculties  wherewith  to 
take  care  of  itself.  The  vine  has  now  taken  on  and 
added  to  its  vegetable  nature  an  animal  nature ;  and 
its  province,  interest  and  care  will  embrace,  to  a 
limited  extent,  not  only  the  culture  formerly  given 
to  it  by  the  vine-dresser,  but  also  the  care  of  those 
limbs  and  sense-faculties,  just  now  added  to  its 
original  nature. 

2 


18  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

And  if  now  we  add  to  these  sense-faculties,  to  this 
vegetable-animal  nature,  the  faculty  and  gift  of  reason, 
the  vine  has  intellect,  and  has  become  an  intelligent 
existence,  as  well  as  a  vegetable-animal ;  and  now  the 
vine  is  able  to  take  care  of  itself:  to  nourish  and 
cultivate  its  original  vegetable  nature,  with  all  the 
knowledge,  wisdom  and  skill  of  the  experienced  vine- 
dresser. And  while  this  must  be  regarded  as  its 
primary  and  leading  duty,  yet  not  less  is  the  vine 
interested  for  its  own  good,  and  is  under  obligation 
to  preserve  intact  and  pure,  and  to  protect  and  cul- 
tivate those  sense  and  reasoning  faculties,  by  means 
of  which  it  is  able  effectually  to  maintain  its  original 
nature.  And  the  vine,  too,  will  soon  discover  that 
though  each  and  every  part  of  itself  is  essential  to 
itself,  yet  that,  if  any  part  of  itself  is  better  than  an- 
other, its  wisdom  faculties  have  the  pre-eminence. 

This  allegory  of  the  vine,  it  is  readily  seen,  repre- 
sents the  condition  and  duty  of  man — himself  from 
the  beginning  not  only  a  vine-dresser — a  cultivator 
of  the  vegetable  kingdom,  but  much  more — the  cul- 
tivator also  of  a  nature  sensuous,  intellectual,  moral 
and  religious. 

The  entire  range  of  known  faculties  and  powers  is 
embraced  in  his  province  of  culture  and  duty ;  and 
the  chief-good,  as  Cicero  views  it,  consists  in  giving 
to  each  and  to  every  part  its  due  and  proper  cultiva- 
tion. 

But  the  discermncnt  of  this  precept  as  to  the  chief- 
good,  and  of  this  due  and  proper  culture,  has  been 
regarded  as  beyond  the  unaided  ken  of  man,  and  so 
an  appeal   for  aid    is   made   to  the   divinity — to  the 


THE  LEADINGS  OF  NATURE.  V.) 

Pythian  Apollo,'  who  enjoins  us  "  to  know  our- 
selves," namely,  to  know  our  own  capabilities;  and 
•'  this  must  include  knowledge  of  those  pursuits  of  life 
that  are  best  suited  to  a  virtuous  enjoyment  of  life." 

That  we  are  created  with  desire  for  this  knowledge 
is  evident  when  we  regard  the  manner  of  children  in 
their  play  and  work ;  for  inquiry  and  observation  is 
a  part  of  their  nature,  and  they  are  influenced  by 
those  virtues,  the  root  of  which  is  implanted  in  their 
very  constitution. 

Ancient  philosophy,  as  expounded  by  Cicero, 
sought  a  principle  for  man  that  preserves  man  ;  a 
principle  for  nature  that  preserves  nature  ;  but  the 
true,  the  right,  the  honorable,  as  a  principle,  is  an 
uncreated  element  that  lies  in  the  constitution  of  the 
Creator,  and  there  has  its  seat  and  abode  ;  and  this 
element  or  principle  is  honored  and  cherished  by 
the  Creator  for  its  own  sake.  It  is  the  essential  ele- 
ment of  his  being.  It  preserves  the  being  of  God 
himself,  for  without  it  God  would  not  be.  \Vc  can- 
not, however,  assume  that  God  cherishes  and  honors 
this  principle  of  the  true  and  the  right  merely  from 
the  motive  of  self-preservation  ;  but  purch-  because 
from  the  entire  holiness  of  his  constitution  he 
loves  the  true  and  the  right  for  its  own  sake — for  its 
own  intrinsic  beauty  and  value. 

Just  so  is  it  in  man,  as  the  image  of  the  Creator. 
Man  obeys  this  principle — if,  ethically,'  he  obeys  at 
all,  for  itself— and  not  because  the  principle  is  pre- 
servative of  himself  or  of  nature;  for  unless  the  true 
is  obeyed  for  its  own  sake,  it  is  not  trul)-  obe\-etl. 

The  principle  or  element  of  the   right  preserves 


20  MORAL  AND  RELUilOUS  SCIENCE. 

nature ;  it  does  not  reside  within  it ;  it  dominates 
nature.  The  principles  or  hiws  of  nature  in  them- 
selves have  no  influence  in  making  Hfe  happy. 
Contra  to  this,  happiness  comes  from  obedience  to 
those  principles,  in  virtue  of  a  distinct  element  or 
principle,  to-wit :  the  true,  the  right,  which  must 
rule  and  dominate  in  all  the  relations  of  the  soul  to 
the  principles  of  nature. 

It  is  only  when  we  are  controlled  by  this  moral 
clement  that  the  principles  and  laws  of  nature  have 
influence  or  are  effective  in  producing  happiness. 

Knowledge  is  good  or  evil,  just  as  it  is  or  is  not 
dominated   by  virtue. 

5.  TiiH  LAin'Rixrii  of  Thought. — In  the 
labyrinth  of  thought,  opinion  and  doctrine  in  Ancient 
philosophy'  what  clue  is  there  to  lead  to  truth  and 
knowledge?  All  follow  nature  as  the  guide  to  wis- 
dom. 

The  Ii'picurean'  sees  pleasure  in  nature  ;  so  pleas- 
ure is  his  chief-good.  The  Stoic'  follows  nature, 
for  his  first  principle  is,  that  "those  things  that 
accord  with  nature  are  to  be  chosen  for  their  own 
sake."  This  attitude  towards  nature  they  call 
kat/iekoii,  the  fit,  the  becoming,  or  the  duty  of  main- 
taining oneself  in  his  natural  condition,  for  man's 
attraction  is  to  what  accords  with  nature ;  and  by 
knowledge  and  reasoning  he  comes  to  place  the 
chief-good  in  what  the  Stoics  call  omologia,  agree- 
ment ;  and  this  is  to  be  sought  for  its  intrinsic 
worth. 

"  Duties,"  says  Cicero,  "  proceed  from  first  princi- 


THE  LABYRINTH  OF  THOUGHT.  21 

pies  of  nature  ;  so  that  it  may  be  fairly  said  that  all 
duties  must  be  referred  to  the  end  of  arriving  at  the 
principles  of  nature." 

Cicero  here  overlooks  the  fact  that  this  is  true 
only  if  there  be  no  self-evident  principles  of  nature. 
It  is  true  that  duties  are  referred  to  principles  of 
nature,  but  not  in  the  sense  of  "arriving"  at  princi- 
ples, so  far  as  they  are  intuitive,  for  in  this  case 
obeying  the  principles  of  nature  conveys  a  more 
fitting  idea  of  duty. 

The  Peripatetic  follows  nature,  for  his  "  happ)- 
life"  is  made  complete  by  circumstances  consonant 
with  nature.  Thus  a  sound  and  shapely  body  con- 
tributes to  the  happy  life  ;  and  an  honorable  act  free 
from  loss  is  more  to  be  desired  than  honor  with  loss. 

The  Stoic  does  not  think  so  :  with  him  virtue  is  the 
only  possible  chief-good.  Herein  is  the  happy  life, 
which  pain  nor  poverty  can  modify.  Worldly  goods, 
though  desirable,  have  no  value  at  all  as  compared 
with  virtue,  and  hence  in  Stoic-logic  cannot  be  a 
factor  in  the  happy  life. 

It  is  not  alone  nature  external  to  man  that  we  are 
to  follow,  but  man  himself  is  born  with  adaptations 
to  the  virtues,  justice,  temperance,  and  all  others; 
also  with  a  love  of  truth  and  a  desire  of  knowledge, 
as  is  evidenced  by  the  inquiring  minds  of  children, 
always  in  pursuit  of  some  new  thing.  Men,  too,  are 
born  for  companionship,  for  society  and  the  ci\il 
state;  hence  that  branch  of  morals  which  the  Greek 
calls  politikos. 

But  it  is  a  knowledge  of  heavenly  things  that 
imparts    modest}-,   and  it  inspires   magnaiu'mity  to 


■2>  MORAL  AND  RELK.IOUS  SCIENCE. 

contemplate  the  works  of  God  ;  and  justice,  when 
we  come  to  know  the  power,  wisdom  and  will  of  the 
Supreme  Ruler  of  the  Universe. 

From  the  foregoing,  we  see  that  Ancient  phi- 
losophy, from  following  nature  to  find  the  "  highest 
good" — \\\QSuniiiniiii  botioruvi — comes  naturally  upon 
the  trail  to  man's  characteristics,  man's  soul-nature, 
as  the  true  path  in  its  discovery.  The  sentiments, 
feelings  and  acts  of  men  show  that  there  is  a  moral 
nature — born  in  them  is  their  instant  praise  of  the 
noble  and  the  good,  as  is  also  their  instant  con- 
demnation of  the  mean  and  the  bad. 

The  great  search  of  Ancient  philosophy  was  for 
the  chief-good,  the  highest  end  of  man's  life ;  but 
whatever  this  be — pleasure,  knowledge,  virtue,  re- 
ligion, a  life  according  to  nature — all  agree  that  the 
chief-good  in  its  fullness  and  completion  is  unat- 
tained,  if  indeed  it  be  attainable.  The  cause  for 
interminable  discussion  and  unsatisfactory  results  in 
^Xncient  philosophy  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  objective 
chief-good  they  sought  necessarih-  depends  on 
man's  reason,  which  is  liable  to  error. 

The  same  fault,  from  the  same  cause,  characterizes 
the  major  part  of  Modern  philosophy.  But  for  a 
science  of  morality  we  are  in  need  of  a  principle  that 
is  attainable;  that  can  be  characterized  as  necessary 
and  loiiversai.* 

6.  Kant:  His  Ethic  Ground-Prixciple. — 
Kant  calls  the  law  of  the  moral  nature,  through 
which  the  soul  is  impressed  with  the  ideas  of  the 
right  and  of  duty,  the  categorical-imperative,'  mean- 


KANI'S  ETHIC  GROUND-PRINCIPLE.        23 

ing  thereby  a  universal  law'  that  gives  form  to  the 
intuitions'  of  the  soul  about  itself,  and  its  relations 
to  other  thinking,  sensitive  existences — such  form  as 
determines  and  makes  the  man  conscious  that  there 
must  be  in  these  relations  a  necessary'  element — the 
true  and  the  right. 

The  method"  of  the  Critical"  philosophy  gives  an 
a  priori'  character  to  knowledge.  It  is  also  the 
method  of  the  Practical'  philosophy,  namdy,  Kant's 
Ethical  System.  As  morality  relates  not  to  the 
material,  or  to  objects  of  sense,  but  relates  to  what 
is  rational,  sentimental  and  spiritual — "the  true," 
"the  good,"  "the  beautiful"  in  harmony — all  de- 
sirable for  themselves — separate  and  apart  from 
aught  else,  there  is  for  the  ethic-principle  }-et  wider 
ground  for  predicating  an  a  priori  character. 

In  the  theory  of  our  understanding,*'  the  cognitive 
relates  to  the  empirical'" — must  have  for  its  object 
an  object  of  sense.  This  is  the  condition  of  knowl- 
edge— a  sensuous"  content.  But  in  the  moral  intui- 
tion'" there  is  indeed  an  object,  but  it  is  no  object  of 
sense.  The  object  is  found  in  the  moral  relations  of 
the  soul.  Hence  Kant  was  justified  in  giving  posi- 
tive certitude"  to  the  ethic  ground-principle — to  the 
categorical-imperative — with  its  character  of  neces- 
sity and  universality.'^ 

The  understanding,  aided  by  the  moral  sense,  con- 
joined with  the  good-willed  soul,  intuits  the  self- 
evident"  in  the  field  of  morals,  and  solves  such 
questions  as  it  cannot  intuit. 

The  first  intuition  is  of  oneself — one's  own  char- 
acter.    The  second  is  of  the  Creator — the   Supreme 


24  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

Ruler  of  the  Universe.  His  authority  is  self-evident. 
When  we  see  him  through  our  intellectual,  moral 
and  spiritual  vision — to  obey  him  must  be  right. 
This  is  our  intuition  of  duty  in  its  abstract  form'"  as 
universal  law — obedience  to  the  Supreme :  "  I  come 
to  do  thy  will,  O  God  !  "  Doing  antedates  knowing : 
duty  is  prior  to  knowledge:  as  Kant  would  have  it, 
the  intuition  of  duty  is  a  product  of  the  reason 
creating  the  idea  of  duty ;  but  this  creation  is  not  of 
an  abstract  form  of  duty  which  exists  constitution- 
ally, but  is  of  the  idea  of  duty  in  its  reference  to  an 
object. 

The  system  of  Kant  can  be  briefly  summarized:  It  finds  in 
tlie  constitution  of  the  soul  faculties  for  cognizing  nature,  and  for 
the  discovery  of  truth.  These  faculties  have  a  transcen- 
dental character;  that  is,  to  a  degree  they  create  the  things  and 
qualities  perceived — the  phenomena. 

There  is  in  nature  ground  or  substratum  for  a  certain  form  or 
order;  yet  nature  does  not  present  herself  and  reveal  herself  to 
man's  intelligence  just  as  she  is  in  her  inner  self.  The  primal 
elements  lie  concealed  within  herself.  She  appears  to  us  in  such 
form  as  the  mind  of  man  itself  imposes  upon  the  unknown  con- 
tent. This  form  and  order  exists  in  the  mind — has  a  prior 
existence.  Nature  was  made  for  man,  not  man  for  nature — autl 
without  this  prior  existence  in  the  mind,  this  order  of  nature 
would  not  be  seen  in  nature. 

Nor  is  this  a  mere  correspondence  and  harmony  between 
mind  and  matter,  for  mind  dominates  matter,  and  compels  nature 
to  reveal  herself  in  the  forms  that  mind  bestows  upon  her. 

The  phenomenal  world  is  the  world  we  perceive  and  know. 
The  ndumenal  is  the  realm  in  nature  entirely  beyond  our  cogni- 
tion. 

It  will  assist  us  to  grasp  the  constructive,  formati\c  or 
transcendental  character  of  the  mind  in  the  cognition  of  nature, 
if  we  reflect  that  there  are  laws  of  nature — for  instance,  the  law 
of  gravity — liial  subtle,  inscrutable  ibrce  pervading   all    matter — 


THE   GOOD:    THE  (,obj)    WILL;  ETC.  25 


so  unknown,  jet  so  well  known  as  to  its  law  of  action;  which 
is,  that  the  attraction  of  gravity  decreases  as  the  square  of  the 
distance  increases,  exactly  in  accord  with  the  geometrical 
properties  of  the  circle,  to-wit,  areas  proportional  to  the  square 
of  the  radii;  and  geometry  with  its  axioms,  intuitions,  theorems 
and  problems  is  a  ^science  that  has  its  seat,  origin  and  source, 
not  in  nature,  but  in  intellect. 

If  also  we  reflect  that  mind  must  have  preceded  matter — 
preceded  nature  and  her  laws — the  creative  mind,  in  whose 
image  is  furnished  man's  mind;  and  being  thus  fashioned,  must 
have  analogous  creative  power. 

The  soul  of  man  is  instructed,  not  hv  nature  alone,  as  bv  a 
separate  individuality,  for  without  formative  mind  nature  would 
be  formless  and  incapable  as  a  teacher;  nor  set  by  mind  alone, 
for  without  material  to  excite  the  mental  powers,  the  forms  of 
the  mind  would  be  empty — destitute  of  cognition,  and  without 
result.  This  prior  existence  and  pre-eminence  of  mind  over 
matter,  in  the  constitution  of  nature,  gives  an  a  priori  cast  or 
character  to  our  cognitions — to  the  knowledge  of  the  soul  in 
what  pertains  to  the  intellect,  and  in  what  pertains  to  moral  law. 

We  are  not  fettered  and  crippled  by  the  slow  and  doubtful 
instruction  of  mere  sense-perception,  as  the  theorj'  of  Locke 
would  have  it.  as  well  as  the  "Data  of  Ethics"  in  the  Spencer- 
philosophv.  in  gathering  information  and  instruction  about  an 
independent  outer  world;  nor  vet  are  we  to  soar  in  flights  of  the 
pure  reason — witii  fancy  and  enthusiasm  unrestrained  by  our 
sense-perceptions — into  the  regions  of  a  pure  idealism. 

But  for  understanding  nature,  and  our  relations  to  the 
Creator  of  nature,  the  soul  itself  has  in  its  inner  self  a  constitu- 
tional transcendental  endowment  to  give  form  and  law  to  what 
it  thus  is  able  to  perceive,  cognize  and  know  of  nature  and  of  the 
Supreme  Source  of  Nature. 

7.  The  Good;  the  Good  Will;  the  Summu.m 
BONUM. — But  how  do  we  know  that  there  is  stich  a 
principle  as  "the  good'"  and  our  innate  love  for  it  ? 
because  we  are  conscious  of  it  in  our  inner  experi- 
ences, and   because  the  existence  of  this  principle  is 


26 


MORAL  AND  ^ELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 


cognized  by  the  consensus  of  our  intellectual  and 
moral  faculties. 

We  can  conceive  of  the  creation  of  a  right  consti- 
tution by  an  All-wise  Creator,  for  what  is  right  will 
live  and  abide,  in  virtue  of  its  own  inherent  nature. 
We  cannot  conceive  of  the  creation  of  anything 
wrong  in  principle  ;  for  if  wrong  it  would  speedily 
go  to  decay  and  ruin,  from  its  own  inherent  lack  of 
a  true  constitution,  just  as  an  unbalanced  fly-wheel 
would  go  to  pieces  by  its  own  rough  motion. 

The  natural  existence,  then,  of  the  right  and  good 
in  human  nature  we  are  conscious  of  both  by  internal 
experience  and  by  the  intuitions  of  our  intelligence, 
which  contradict  the  possibility  of  the  creation  of  a 
moral  being  destitute  of  this  principle  of  the  right. 
And  in  accord  with  our  intuitions  is  the  scripture: 
"And  God  saw  everything  that  he  had  made,  and 
behold,  it  was  very  good."     (Genesis   i  :  31.) 

Hence  we  are  justified  in  positing  in  the  moral 
nature  the  principle  "the  good,"  and  the  soul's  love 
of  it,  for  we  love  ourselves,  and  have  right  to,  so  far 
as  we  certainly  see  in  ourselves  the  work  of  the 
Creator.  And  we  are  justified  in  positing,  in  union 
with  the  abstract  good,  an  element  of  abstract  duty, 
as  an  innate  forceful  tendency  of  the  soul  to  obey 
the  Supreme,  the  Creator,  in  his  office  or  function  as 
a  wise  Law-giver  and  Judge.  "Shall  not  the  Judge 
of  all  the  earth  do  right?"  This  tendency  exists 
from  no  motive  persuading  to  virtue  through  hope 
of  reward  or  fear  of  punishment,  or  even  from  that 
grand  idea  and  notion  in  Ancient  philosophy,  "  that 
the  dignity   of   huinan    nature  requires  it;"  but  the 


THE  GOOD;   THE  GOOD-WILL;  ETC.  '■11 

true  ground  of  right  and  duty  lies  deep  in  the  Divine 
constitution — his  holiness  and  our  relations  thereto. 

It  is  necessary  to  make  a  sharp  distinction  between 
the  ground  of  morality  and  the  ultimate  end.  The 
ground-principle  is  elementary;  without  it  there  can 
be  no  morals — no  chief-good  or  ultimate  end.  There 
must  be  the  "good-will"  in  unison  with  the  univer- 
sal law — Kant's  categorical-imperative,  as  a  ground- 
principle  to  build  on  —  a  starting  point. 

This  we  have  by  the  constitution  of  human  nature; 
but  the  will  being  free  to  act  contra  to  this  constitu- 
tion, our  first  care  and  chief-good  —  not  our  ultimate 
end  —  is  to  cultivate  and  preserve  the  good  con- 
stitution. 

This  done,  the  ultimate  end  is  arrived  at  —  if  it  be 
arrived  at — as  a  necessary  consequence ;  for  the 
good-will  will  act  under  the  best  instruction  and  in- 
formation it  can  obtain  in  its  search  after  a  philoso- 
phy of  life  in  the  concrete,  namely,  the  specific 
duties  of  life. 

Obedience,  then,  to  the  voice  of  the  moral  nature 
demanding  the  right  for  its  own  sake,  from  love  of  it, 
is  the  "ground  of  duty."  But  Ancient  philosophy  and 
most  of  the  Modern  overlooking  this  ground-element 
have  sought  to  discover  the  moral  principle  in  the 
suvmnun  bonnin,  the  chief-good,  the  highest  end  to 
which  man  should  strive  to  attain,  which  effort,  being 
a  labor  of  the  reasoning  faculties  and  of  our  ex- 
periences, under  the  guidance  of  wisdom  and  pru- 
dence, has  always  been  without  certain  result  ;  for 
both  reason  and  experience,  being  liable  to  error  and 
slow  in  a   search   for  truth,  can  never  assure  us  that 


28  MORAL   AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE.     ' 

we  are  on  the  right  track ;  or  that  we  see  clearly  the 
highest,  final  or  ultimate  end  of  ourexisteiice,  which, 
indeed,  we  must  clearly  see  if  we  would  posit  in  it 
the  ground-principle  of  our  duty  and  conduct  in 
life. 

The  search  after  a  ground-principle  in  the  lofty 
superstructure,  and  not  in  the  corner-stone  of  its 
solid  foundation,  is  what  has  given  birth  to  so  many 
pseudo-philosophical  theories  falsely  called  Moral 
Science.  Whereas,  when  we  realize  that  the  true 
ground  of  duty  is  where  Kant  puts  it — in  the  "good- 
will "  obedient  to  law,  to  the  intuitional  universal 
law  of  duty — his  categorical-imperative — then  we 
have  a  sure  start  and  guide  in  the  path  of  duty.  Not 
that  every  concrete  duty  is  seen  by  intuition  ;  but 
it  is  this,  that  we  by  intuition  do  see  the  true  ground- 
principle  of  duty — obedience  to  the  "imperative"  in 
the  moral  nature.  But  if  we  posit  the  ground-prin- 
ciple in  the  ultimate  enc],  and  say,  for  instance,  that 
this  end  is  "  the  love  of  God,"  man  is  destitute  of  a 
ground-principle  that  is  universal  law,  for  men  do 
not  love  God.  They  ought  to,  and  are  so  com- 
manded, but  the  fact  is,  they  do  not,  except  through 
obedience,  self-discipline  and  contemplation  of  the 
Divine  attributes.  But  the  love  of  what  is  true  and 
right,  as  an  element  or  principle  abstract  from  the 
question  of  a  particular  content  or  object,  all  men 
constitutionally  have ;  nor  will  any  man  deny  it ;  nor 
will  any  man  deny  the  duty  of  obedience  to  it. 
This  is  "universal  law,"  and  is  so  recognized  in  the 
consciousness.  This  dominates  the  soul  in  obedience 
to  the  Great  source  of  all  truth  and  right. 


MOJi.i r./'/r    i.xn  /k.i:-./<,/o\  d/.s j/xct.     -j:* 


8.  MoRALirv  AM)  Rkligiox  Distin'ct  yet  Ix- 
SEPARABLE. — The  distinction  between  morality  and 
religion  has  always  been  known. 

Noah  Webster's  definitions  are  exact.  As  to  mo- 
rality, it  is  this:  "The  quality  of  an  intention, 
an  act,  a  sentiment,  when  tried  by  the  standard  of 
right." 

And  religion  he  defines  thus  :  "  The  recognition 
of  God  as  an  object  of  worship,  love  and  obedience." 

The  word  religion,  as  derived  from  rclcgcrc,  car- 
ries the  idea  of  collecting  again,  or  of  going  over 
again  in  feeling,  thought,  or  in  speech,  our  relations 
to  the  Infinite  One.  Also,  this  derivation  of  the 
word  religion  is  the  one  given  by  Cicero,  an  ex- 
cjllent  authority,  namely,  with  Cicero,  its  meaning 
i  -; :  to  read,  study  or  contemplate  anew  and  over 
again.  But  again  others  would  derive  it  from  rcli- 
garc,  to  bind  anew. 

Whichever  the  derivation,  it  does  not  appear  to 
affect  the  doctrine  of  religion  as  a  constitutional 
sentiment  in  human  nature.  Yet  in  spite  of  dis- 
tinctness in  definition,  morality  and  religion  are  so 
intertwined,  that  many  people  do  not  clearh-  appre- 
hend the  difference,  but  speak  of  morality  as  a  re-' 
ligion  ;  and  not  a  few,  with  false  ideas  of  religion,  im- 
agine that  there  is  virtue  in  religion  without  the  pos- 
session of  morality  ;  and  others,  that  morality,  when 
highly  cultix'ated.  is  all-sufficient  without  the  aid  of 
religion. 

Yet,  as  the  elements  of  both  morality  and  religion 
are  inborn,  the  reasonable  proposition  is,  that  in  all 
trvie   religion   there   is  a  pure    morality ;  "  by    their 


3d  MOHAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

fruits  ye  shall  know  them";  and  that  in  all  perfected 
morality  there  is  pure  religion. 

The  one  cannot  be  excluded  from  the  other,  yet 
the  ground-principle  of  each  has  its  own  distinct 
origin. 

The  ground-element  of  morality  is  in  an  inborn 
appetency,  desire  and  love  for  "  the  true  and  the 
right,"  a  guiding  principle  of  the  soul  that  tends  to 
right  action. 

Religion  also  is  an  inborn  sentiment  or  natural 
law  in  the  constitution  of  man — the  ground  of  the 
religious  nature,  under  normal  conditions,  being,  in 
an  innate  respect,  reverence,  awe  and  love  for  supe- 
rior beings,  and  especially  for  that  Supreme  Being 
that  exhibits  perfection  and  holiness. 

The  first,  morality,  is  a  pure  sentiment  of  love  for 
2i  \x^XQ.  principle  \  "CiXQ  second,  religion,  as  pure  relig- 
ion, is  a  sentiment  of  love  for  the  Supreme  Being,  as 
manifesting  in  his  constitution  the  elements  of  truth, 
righteousness  and  goodness.  The  one  is  love  for  a 
principle  ;  the  other  is  personal  love  :  and  this  second 
kind  of  love,  religion,  could  have  no  ground  of  ex- 
istence without  the  first  kind — the  moral. 

There  cannot  be  a  morality  false  in  principle,  for 
the  essence  of  morality  is  in  the  agreement  of  the 
moral  forces  of  the  soul  which  trend  to\\ards  "  the 
right,"  with  the  will,  which  determines  to  do  right. 
And  this  agreement  between  the  will  and  the  other 
powers  or  faculties  of  the  moral  nature  is  intuitively 
known,  or  consciously  known  and  apjirehended. 
And  so  it  is,  that  though  by  the  opposition  of  the  will 
the   contra  of   morality    may  prevail,  this  does   not 


MORA  LIT r  AND  RELIGION  DISTINCT.       :!1 

originate  in  a  false  moral  nature,  but  in  a  badly  ad- 
vised or  a  stubborn  and  bad  will ;  for  there  may  be 
false  ideas  of  morality,  as  when  erroneous  reasoning 
blindly  leads  the  way,  and  with  perverted  judgment 
instructs  the  moral  nature  ;  as  when  persecuting  Saul 
verily  thought  himself  in  the  path  of  duty  till  the 
Lord  stopped  him  in  the  way. 

There  can,  however,  be  a  false  religion,  as  when  an 
immoral  divinity  is  worshiped  from  fear  or  from 
custom.  Thus  the  chaste  Lucretia  adored  the  un- 
chaste Venus.  But  this  adoration  and  worship 
lacked  a  moral  element,  and  so,  like  all  forms  of  false 
religion,  tended  only  to  the  bad. 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  essence  of  the  religious  ele- 
ment^its  ground-principle — is  in  the  object  as  well 
as  in  the  subject,  namely,  the  object  feared  and 
loved  is  necessary  to  the  existence  of  fear  and  love 
in  the  subject ;  and  as  this  object  is  necessarily  ex- 
ternal, the  religious  element  cannot  be  pure  <'>/;'/<:-'/'/. 

Hence,  when  the  object  worshiped  with  fear,  awe, 
reverence  and  love  is  in  itself  an  unworthy  object, 
devoid  of  a  pure  moral  constitution — this  object 
being,  as  just  recited,  a  constituent  and  necessary 
element  in  the  religious  ground-principle — the  reli- 
gion founded  upon  it  must  necessarily  be  false. 

The  distinction,  then,  in  morality  and  religion  is 
radical,  while  yet  their  close  affinity  and  neces- 
sary conjunction  is  also  radical.  This,  then,  is  the 
mark  distinguishing  true  religion  from  false  :  the 
true  is  objectively  moral  ;  the  false,  objectively 
vicious. 

Hence,  there  can  be  no  hesitancy  as  to  the  proper 


32  MORAL  AND  REHCTOUS  SCIENCE. 


attitude  of  the  State  or  the  Government  towards 
rehgion. 

A  rehgion  that  tends  to  morahty,  that  coexists 
and  flows  onward  with  it,  can  safely  be  tolerated  and 
protected ;  but  a  religion  that  tends  to  vice  is  desti- 
tute of  the  moral  element,  and  cannot  be  protected 
without  danger  to  the  stability  of  the  state  itself. 

Thus,  if  the  constitution  of  the  United  States, 
by  a  wide-open  policy,  debases  the  quality  of  citi- 
zenship by  inviting  thereto  the  Pagan  and  the  Mor 
mon,  of  vicious  moral  tendency,  then  the  constitu- 
tion needs  amendment  in  this  regard. 

In  a  true  religion  there  m.ay  be  many  false  wor- 
shipers, but  the  state  cannot  distinguish  here  the 
true  from  the  false — as  it  can  between  true  and  false 
elements  in  religion — elements,  not  doctrines. 

9.  The  Supernatural  in  Religion;  in  Na- 
ture.— But  in  religion  men  see  the  supernatural, 
and  object  to  a  science  of  religion,  on  the  ground 
that  we  have  certain  knowledge  only  of  the  natural. 
There  is,  however,  a  supernatural  in  the  natural — in 
the  existences  and  the  events  of  time  ;  and  there  is 
also  a  supernatural  as  to  things  external ;  in  other 
words,  a  supernatural  relating  to  man's  present  life, 
and  a  supern^t-  ral  relating  to  his  spiritual  life  here, 
and  in  a  fut    ■     world. 

Scientists  \  ^'d  that  the  laws  of  nature  are  fixed, 
and  never  transgress  their  bounds;  hence  that  the  in- 
tervention of  the  spiritual  in  nature  is  contra  to  our 
experience  and  our  reason,  and  cannot  be  admitted 
as  fact  and   science.     This  view  is  true  ;  yet  not  all 


THE  SUPERNATURAL  IN   RELIGION.         'iW 

the  truth.  Kant  holds  to  certainty  in  the  hnv.s  of 
nature,  but  shows  that  the  certain  natural  effect  can 
be  predicated  only  of  a  (certain)  natural  cause ;  and 
that  the  natural  cause  must  originate  somewhere  in 
a  supernatural  cause;  and  that  this  supernatural 
may  be  quite  different  m.  kind  from  the  natural ;  and 
may  have  powder,  and  does  have  power,  to  institute  or 
to  interject  another  series  of  natural  causes  and  ef- 
fects, without  at  all  interfering  with  the  general 
course  of  a  prior  series.  This  is  certainly  true  as 
to  what  now  concerns  us — cause  and  effect  in  its 
moral  aspect. 

For  instance,  in  the  first  and  second  command- 
ments of  the  decalogue,  God  represents  himself  as 
the  Lord,  and  as  the  deliverer  of  the  Israelites  from 
Egyptian  bondage  ;  and  also  as  a  jealous  God,  insist- 
ing on  his  owai  rights — visiting  iniquity  and  showing 
mercy, 

Now,  the  course  of  events  here  referred  to  by  the 
Lord  God  is  natural  and  logical,  in  that  the  Israel- 
ites should  desire  freedom  to  worship  God,  and  that 
the  Egyptians  should  refuse  to  give  it  to  them, 
knowing  as  they  must  that  the  concession  would  end 
in  the  freedom  of  Israel  and  the  loss  to  themselves 
of  a  serving  people. 

In  the  natural  course  of  events,  th-'-^'^yptians,  be- 
ing a  powerful  people  and  well  arnifeV?'  with  many 
horsemen  and  chariots  of  war,  the  Jime  had  not 
come  for  the  exodus  from  Egypt. 

Moses'  strong  objections  to  undertaking  the  work 
of  deliverance  were  valid;  thus:  "And  Moses  said 
unto  God,  Who  am  I  that  I  should  go  unto  Pharaoh, 

3 


34  MORAL  AXD  RELIGIOUS  SCIEXCE. 

and  that  I  should  bring  forth  the  children  of  Israel 
out  of  Egypt?"    (Exodus  3:  11.) 

It  was  evident  to  IMoses,  who  well  knew  the  power 
of  Egypt  and  the  weakness  of  his  own  people,  that 
their  deliv^erance  could  not  be  accomplished. 

In  a  physical  sense,  and  also  in  a  moral  sense,  there 
was  a  course  of  nature,  and  a  law  of  nature,  that 
forbade  the  attempt.  Physically  the  Egyptians  were 
strong;  morally  the  Israelites  were  weak  from  the 
abnormal  condition  of  servitude. 

We  know  that  when  an  organization — the  body, 
for  instance — becomes  diseased,  it  sometimes  may  be 
cured  by  a  renovating  process  of  nature,  and  often  a 
diseased  limb  must  be  cut  off ;  but  in  the  case  of 
moral  disease,  we  cannot  prove  that  there  is  ever 
power  in  the  moral  nature  to  renovate  itself,  for 
from  the  effect  of  our  transgression  "  the  \\  hole  head 
is  sick  and  the  heart  faint." 

This  was  true  as  to  Moses,  till  the  Lord  super- 
naturall}-,  or  by  a  manifestation  of  the  Divine 
presence  and  help,  infused  into  him  wisdom  and 
courage. 

This  is  the  only  reasonable  explanation  of  Moses' 
subsequent  alacrity  in  going  forward  in  the  work  of 
the  deliverance  of  his  people. 

This  chapter  in  Israel's  history,  though  a  noted 
one,  is  but  a  single  instance  and  example  of  Provi- 
dential care  over  the  course  of  nature  ;  and  specially 
over  the  moral  and  religious  nature,  not  onl\-  in  the 
individual,  but  including  the  sympathetic  and  social, 
which  tend  to  the  formation  of  family,  social,  civil, 
political,  national  and  international  relations. 


THE  SUPREME-CAUSE.  ?,r^ 

lo.  The  Supreme-cause. — As  to  the  pln-sical 
world,  reason  tells  us  that  there  is  a  niatioii  of 
cause,  and  we  are  free  to  speculate  as  to  whether  the 
Supreme-cause  acted  once  for  alT  on  the  content  of 
nature,  or  whether  his  action  is  continued  in  a  line 
parallel  to  nature. 

As  to  the  religious  and  moral  realm,  its  very  exist- 
ence argues  in  like  manner  a  causal  relation  ;  and  the 
abnormal  condition  of  its  existence — the  religious 
nature  being  chilled,  and  the  moral  nature  being 
perverted  by  sin  and  transgression — necessarily  calls 
for  a  renovating  power  outside  of  itself ;  and  thus 
again  we  see  that  it  is  natural  as  well  as  necessary 
for  the  supernatural  to  intervene. 

Thus  do  we  find  the  supernatural  in  the  natural, 
and  in  science,  physical,  intellectual,  moral  and  re- 
ligious. 

And  all  science — especially  these — are  of  interest 
to  the  people  individually  and  collectively,  and  are 
proper  subjects  of  study. 

And  now  to  briefly  discuss  the  other  relation,  that 
of  the  supernatural  in  the  spiritual.  Wide  ground 
for  science  is  not  claimed,  namely,  that  which  is  uni- 
versal or  is  self-evident  to  every  man's  consciousness. 
Christianity  differs  from  the  religion  of  nature,  as 
enunciated  in  the  decalogue,  in  this:  that  it  con- 
templates and  provides  for  a  new  or  for  a  supernat- 
urally  quickened  spiritual  nature  in  man,  by  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  by  the  gracious 
offices  of  a  Redeemer. 

The  supernatural,  as  first  said,  working  through 
the  good  nature  bestowed  upon  us  by  the  Creator — 


36  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

good  though  now  lapsed  and  fallen,  as  every  man 
consciously  knows,  into  an  abnormal  state — is  a  nec- 
essary factor  and  co-worker  with  us;  in  the  attain- 
ment of  the  right,  and  of  a  normal  happy  life ; 
hence  the  Divine  utterance  in  the  decalogue,  and 
this  is  what  man  is  under  obligation  to  aim  at. 

But  the  supernatural,  in  its  reference  to  and  at- 
tainment of  a  higher  spiritual  state  for  man  now  and 
hereafter,  is  a  different  matter,  and  has  interest  for 
the  individual  affected  thereby,  singly  and  in  spirit- 
ual assemblies. 

Herein  is  the  work  of  the  individual  and  of  church 
organizations,  namely,  the  work  of  the  conversion  of 
the  world  and  of  the  perfection  of  the  saints  by  spirit- 
ual means. 

This  work  is  beyond  and  outside  that  of  the  edu- 
cational work  of  the  public,  as  a  community  or  as  a 
state,  through  and  upon  the  naturally  religious  and 
moral  nature  of  man  ;  and  the  superspiritual  work 
lies  entirely  within  the  province  of  the  individual, 
and  that  of  the  spiritual  congregations. 

This  marks  a  clear  line  of  separation  between  a 
science  of  religion  and  morals  natural  and  logically 
supernatural,  and  the  supernaturally  spiritual ;  the 
former  would  include  the  evidence  of  Christianity, 
the  latter  regards  the  applied  spiritual  truths. 

It  marks  a  line  of  distinction  between  the  duty  of 
the  state  in  the  education  of  the  citizen,  and  indi- 
vidual and  ecclesiastic  duties  in  reference  to  the  soul's 
spiritual  welfare. 

It  is  the  unity  of  the  moral  nature  that  holds  men 
together,  and  this  unity  is  manifest  when  the  moral 


THE  SUPREME-CAUSE.  37 

nature  or  constitution  of  man  is  formulated  in  the 
true  moral  law — the  decalogue. 

Its  first  introductory  clause,  "  I  am  the  Lord," 
gives  unity  and  authority  to  all  that  follows  ;  assures 
men  that  they  have  in  the  two  tables  a  true  state- 
ment of  the  requirements  of  their  own  nature. 

When  the  Lord  speaks,  truth  is  uttered ;  duty  is 
made  known;  nor  is  it  possible  for  us  to  look  for  the 
universal  brotherhood  of  man,  on  any  other  basis 
than  this  ^/r/t^r/ scientific  basis  that  exists  in  the 
moral  constitution  of  man. 

Set  up  that  there  is  no  Lord,  or  that  Baal  is  God, 
and  we  abstract  from  the  moral  nature  of  man  the 
force  and  the  power  of  its  highest,  deepest  elemen- 
tary principle — that  of  obedience  to  itself;  that  of  a 
soul  without  guile  in  the  harmony  of  the  Will 
with  the  moral  sense,  under  the  power  of  an 
active,  living  conscience,  which  is  surely  blunted, 
hardened,  silenced  when  the  Creator  of  this  moral 
nature — when  the  Author  of  man's  constitution, 
unwritten  and  written — when  God  himself  is  lost 
sight  of. 

Hence  the  impossibility  of  solidarity  in  a  people 
of  diverse  and  strange  gods — like  the  Jew  or  Chris- 
tian and  the  Pagan. 

Hence,  too,  the  necessity  in  and  among  a  nomi- 
nally Christian  people  for  cultivation  and  education 
in  morals  and  piety,  or  natural  religion — those  uni- 
versals  that  must  underlie  Christianity  in  all  its 
varied  forms. 

And  hence  the  suicidal  polic}'  of  an  education 
that    would   overlook  and  exclude  morals  and   rcli- 


38  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

gion  ;  and  not  less  suicidal,  that  policy  that  would 
build  up  sectarian  schools  on  the  ruins  of  public 
common  schools,  for  the  sure  tendency  of  sectarian 
education  is  to  the  disintegration  of  a  people. 

And  no  man  can  be  accounted  a  wise  citizen  who, 
on  the  one  hand,  is  possessed  of  the  unnatural,  irra- 
tional, and  pernicious  notion  that  morals  and  religion 
must  be  excluded  from  our  public  schools;  or  who, 
on  the  other  hand,  holds  to  the  no  less  pernicious 
notion  that  we  should  have  no  public  schools,  because 
either  irreligion  or  sectarian  opinions  would  be 
taught  in  them  ;  blind  to  the  fact  that  there  is  a  nat- 
ural, logical  view,  and  a  science  of  morals  and  reli- 
gion in  man's  nature — best  made  known  in  holy 
writ — that  includes  only  the  true,  and  necessarily 
excludes  what  is  mere  sectarian,  and  all  that  is  false. 

II.  The  Sum  of  the  Argument. — The  sum 
of  the  argument  in  these  introductory  or  general 
principles  is  that  Ancient  philosophy,  and  largely 
Modern,  by  looking  to  final  ends,  can  find  no  certain 
basis  or  ground-principle  for  a  science  of  morals; 
but  when  we  look  to  the  inner  man — to  the  God- 
given  endowments  of  the  moral  nature — love  for 
"the  truth  and  the  right" — the  "good-will"  which 
Kant  makes  the  central  figure  in  the  grouping  of 
the  moral  consciousness — we  find  ohcditucc  to  the 
teaching,  to  the  logic  thereof  and  to  the  imperative 
therein,  to  be  a  self-evident  truth  and  dut}-,  and  so 
fit  for  a  basis  of  science. 

This  does  not  ignore  the  \rihial:)lc  rr.ntributions  of 
empiric    philosiipli\-    in    liiscovery    and    experience. 


THE  XATURE  OF  MAN.  39 

They  are    efificient    aids,    auxiliary    forces    in    life's 
moral  progress ;  they  do  not  lead  the  way. 


DIVISION  II.  PRINCIPLES:  PSYCHIC  AND  MORAL. 

12.  The  Nature  of  Man. — a.  The  nature  of 
man  is  fourfold:  physical,'  intellectual,  moral  and  re- 
ligious, and  volitional. 

The ///j.y/r^?/ consists  of  the  corporeal  organization  ; 
bones,  flesh,  blood,  blood-vessels,  vital  organs,  \'is- 
cera,  muscle,  nerve,  brain,  with  all  the  organs  of 
sense — to-wit :  sight,  touch,  taste,  hearing  and  smell- 
ing— that  belong  to  the  body,  together  with  the 
sensibilities  to  pleasure  and  to  pain  that  are  peculiar 
to  the  action  of  the  physical  nature. 

The  ititcllcctual  nature  consists  of  the  faculties  of 
the  understanding  and  of  the  reason,  including,  as 
auxiliaries,  memory,  imagination,^  consciousness. 

By  the  understanding  faculties  we  are  endowed 
with  conceptions,  to-wit :  with  the  concept  of  quan- 
tity in  space,  or  quantity  as  one  or  more,  or  all  of 
similar  things  ;  with  the  concept  of  quality  as  real  or 
as  unreal,  or  as  of  varying  degrees ;  with  the  concept 
of  relation,  as  in  the  relation  of  things  perceived 
(phenomena)  to  substance  or  some  real  existence — 
real,  even  though  unknown;  the  relation  of  an  effect 
to  a  cause  ;  the  relation  of  community,  or  of  recipro- 
city, as  in  action  and  reaction. 

The  uiidirstaiidiiiii-^  in  connection  with  the  organs 
of  sense  perceives  objects  as  they  appear;  f(ir  in- 
stance, a    tree,  a    lake,   a   mountain  ;  has    power  to 


40  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

distinguish  sounds,  as  of  thunder,  of  music,  of  joy, 
of  sorrow ;  to  distinguish  odors,  as  the  fragrance  of 
a  rose ;  and  so  is  it,  as  to  the  organs  of  taste  and 
feehng. 

By  the  reason,  is  meant  that  spirit  power  of  pure 
thinking  which  is  also  called  the  pure  reason — pure 
at  least  to  a  degree ;  but  the  reason  of  man  has  limits, 
is  finite,  and  however  pure  cannot  grasp  all  truth. 

The  reason*  verifies  the  perceptions  of  sense  and 
the  conceptions  of  the  understanding;  counsels  in 
the  province*  of  the  sensibilities  and  sentiments, 
moral  and  religious;  and  with  the  aid  of  the  under- 
standing devises  means  to  accomplish  ends;  argues; 
irJers;  logically  concludes;  discovers  the  idea  or 
type  of  being,  or  the  elementary  principle  in  any 
subject  or  object  of  thought;  thus  the  great  natural- 
ist, Cuvier,  having  from  a  single  bone  reasoned  out 
and  discovered  the  idea,  was  able  to  construct  the 
entire  skeleton  of  the  extinct  animal  to  which 
the  bone  belonged.  Reason  also  speculates"^  in  mat- 
ters beyond  the  range  of  the  understanding  and  so 
beyond  the  realm  of  certitude. 

The  moral  and  the  religious,  though  distinct,  are  so 
closely  allied  that  we  here  class  them  together. 
Their  oneness  and  their  difference  have  been  consid- 
ered in  the  introductory  principles. 

Through  the  moral  sensibilities,  in  connection  with 
the  understanding  and  the  reason,  we  perceixe 
truth  and  falsehood,  right  and  wrong,  and  Just  as  ice 
act  in  view  of  these  moral  perceptions  we  feel  moral 
approbation  or  moral  condemnation. 

The   Will:     The  intellect    when    in    exercise    de- 


THE  NATURE  OF  MAN.  41 

pends  on  the  will.  It  can  accomplish  nothing  with- 
out attention,  and  an  act  of  attention  depends  on 
volition.  Will  power  is,  then,  evidently  an  essential 
factor  in  the  constitution  of  the  soul. 

This  fourfold  division — physical,  intellectual, 
moral-religious  and  volitional — regards  the  leading 
activities  apparent  in  man  : 

(i)  His  animal  life  and  the  play  of  his  muscular 
powers, 

(2)  The  thoughts  that  employ  his  mind, 

(3)  The  feelings  that  exercise  the  sensibilities  of 
the  soul, 

(4)  The  will  power  to  do  what  duty  demands. 

b.  But  man  in  his  very  self,  or  in  his  essential 
nature,  is  a  spirit  inhabiting  for  a  time  a  tenement 
of  clay — the  body ;  and  this  spirit  while  in  the 
body,  with  its  adjunct  powers  of  the  intellect  and 
the  moral  feelings,  is  called  the  soul — is  the  soul 
— the  soul  as  the  seat  of  the  susceptibilities,  the 
affections,  having  the  pre-eminence,  and  so  being  a 
name  to  include  the  entire  man — a  name  given  in 
the  scripture  history  of  man's  creation,  thus: 
"And  the  Lord  God  formed  man  of  the  dust 
of  the  ground,  and  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the 
breath  of  life,  and  man  became  a  living  soul." 
(Genesis  2 : 7.) 

Scripture  passages  show  a  threefold  division  of 
man's  nature  into  body,  soul  and  spirit — the  body 
being  the  seat  of  the  animal  nature ;  the  soul,  the 
seat  of  the  nobler  affections  ;  and  the  spirit  being 
the   man    immortal,  whose   s])hcrc   in  tliis  life  is  lim- 


42  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

ted  by  a  certain  subordination  of  the  body  and  thr 
soul,  and  what  the  exact  nature  and  extent  of  the 
ielation  between  spirit,  soul  and  body  will  be  is  un- 
known ;  however,  we  read:  "There  is  a  natural 
body,  and  there  is  a  spiritual  body"  (I  Corinthians 
18:44);  ^nd  so  we  can  infer  that  the  spirit  has  a 
body  adapted  to  its  state  of  existence  in  the  life  to 
come. 

The  apostle  prays,  "that  the  whole  spirit  and  soul 
and  body  be  preserved  blameless."  (I  Thessalonians 
5:23.) 

See  note  b.  relative  to  Schlegel's  view,  of  the  soul 
in  the  Philosophy  of  Life. 

13.  Moral  Philosophy;  Its  Laws. — Moral 
philosophy  is  the  study  of  the  moral  nature  and  its 
laws. 

The  moral  nature  is  that  state  of  the  soul's  exist- 
ence bestowed  upon  it  by  the  Creator,  whereby  we 
may  know  that  we  are  doing  right  or  wrong. 

The  ^r.y/ or  primary  law  of  the  moral  nature  is, 
that  we  love  and  seek  after  the  right,  and  hate  and 
shun  the  wrong. 

The  second  law  is,  that  happiness  and  joy  accom- 
pany obedience  to  the  primary  law  ;  disquietude  and 
anguish  of  soul  accompany  disobedience. 

These  two  laws  of  the  moral  nature  have  the  same 
certainty  as  other  laws  made  and  constituted  by  the 
Creator;  as  for  instance,  the  law  of  gravity,  when  a 
stone  tossed  into  the  air  falls  back  again  to  the 
ground  ;  or  the  law  of  afifinity  in  chemistry,  whereby 
oxygen  and  hydrogen  unite  and  become  water. 


MORAL  SCIENCE.  43 

In  either  realm — the  morai  or  the  physical — the 
operation  of  law  may  be  suspended  by  opposing 
forces,  or  by  adverse  environment,  yet  the  tendency 
to  action  remains. 

For  instance,  the  fire  in  a  stove  that  is  tight  may  be 
smothered — combustion  suspended — by  closing  the 
draught ;  but  as  soon  as  the  air  is  again  let  in, 
active  combustion  goes  on.  So  the  immoral — the 
criminal — may  long  escape  the  full  punishment  of 
misdeeds;  but  it  is  sure  to  overtake  him. 

Men  are  convinced  of  the  existence  of  the  laws  of 
matter  by  experience ;  so  by  experience  are  they 
convinced  of  the  existence  of  moral  law  ;  for  men  ex- 
perience in  their  own  feelings  the  effects  of  obedience 
and  of  disobedience  thereto. 

Scripture  shows  this  certainty  of  moral  law: 
"Tribulation  and  anguish  upon  every  soul  of  man 
that  doeth  evil ;  but  glory,  honor  and  power  to 
every  man  that  worketh  good."     (Romans  2  :  9, 10.) 

Natural  law  is  in  the  natural  tendency  to  a  certain 
motion,  arrangement,  state  or  order  in  matter ;  as  in 
the  tendency  of  bodies  to  approach  each  other,  or  to 
fall  together  by  force  of  gravity ;  or  to  unite  by 
chemical  attraction.  And  natural  moral  law  is  in  a 
tendency  to  certain  emotions  and  feelings  in  soul  and 
spirit ;  as  in  the  soul's  natural  emotion  of  love  for  the 
true,  the  right,  the  good  ;  and  of  joy  in  the  cognition 
and  attainment  of  these  ;  and  of  contra  emotions, 
when  the  law  of  the  moral  nature  is  violated. 

14.  Moral  Sciknce. — Moral  science  is  an  exhibit 
of  the  principles  and  the  facts  of  moral  law. 


44  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

The  ground-principle  in  moral  science  lies  in  our 
obedience  to  that  moral  law,  or  moral  nature,  that 
instinctively  loves,  tends  towards  and  seeks  the  good. 
By  the  good  is  meant  whatever  is  pure,  true,  right. 
This  instinctive  love  for  the  good  is  also  properly 
called  an  appeteney  for  the  good. 

The  good  is  to  be  distinguished  from  rt'good.  Tlie 
good  pertains  to  and  inheres  in  the  abstract  notion  of 
the  pure,  true  and  right,  that  belongs  to  the  moral 
nature  and  is  grounded  in  it. 

The  good  is  found  in  whatever  harmonizes  with 
the  pure  moral  nature.  It  is  not  the  thing  itself — 
it  is  not  the  veritable  real  feeling,  thought  or  act 
that  should  be,  and  may  be,  in  harmony  with  the 
moral  nature;  but  it  is  that  pure,  right  state  of  the 
soul  that  gives  rise  to  and  produces  pure  feeling, 
thought  and  act.  The  good,  then,  lies  in  the 
character  of  the  soul  as  pure,  right.  A  good  is  a 
right  feeling,  thought  or  act,  in  which  the  feeling, 
thought  or  act  itself — separate  from  tJie  good — pro- 
duces enjoyment  either  in  the  subject  or  the  object. 

The  good  relates  to  what  is  good  in  a  moral 
sense.  A  good  relates  to  what  is  good  in  an  ex- 
ternal or  material  sense.  The  good  is  abstract ;  a 
good  is  concrete."  TJie  good  is  in  the  love  of  the 
pure,  true,  right,  because  it  is  loveable,  and  we  have 
an  affection  for  it  or  a  tendency  or  an  appetency 
towards  it.  We  love  the  beautiful  for  a  similar  rea- 
son or  cause  ;  namely,  we  have  a  natural  appreciation 
of  the  beautiful  and  admiration  for  it ;  hence  tJie  good 
belongs  to  the  true  and  the  right  in  every  form  of  it. 
The  highest  good:''    A  good  cannot  be  a  good  in 


MORAL  I. A  W.  45 


a  moral  sense  except  it  be  grounded  in  the  right. 
It  is  the  right  in  it,  or  at  the  ground  of  it,  that  makes 
any  state  or  constitution  a  moral  good;  hence  the 
highest  good  hes  in  that  from  which  all  good  pro- 
ceeds ;  and  as  this  is  what  the  moral  nature  seeks 
after,  it  follows  that  man  attains  to  his  highest  good 
when  his  soul  is  obedient  to  the  voice  of  his  moral 
nature  seeking  and  demanding  the  right. 

The  true  is  to  be  distinguished  from  truth.  The 
moral  nature  has  appetency  for  the  true.  The  intel- 
lect determines  w^hat  is  true,  or  what  is  truth.  The 
truth  as  to  what  men  owe  to  each  other — as  to  obli- 
gations— is  truth  about  rights;  hence  rights  is  the  con- 
crete in  mutual  obligations,  and  is  the  product  of  in- 
tellect. Rights  impel  to  action — not  necessarily  to 
moral  action  ;  it  may  not  be  right  or  duty  to  insist 
on  rights. 

15.  Moral  Law. — ?iIoral  law  determines  the  way 
a  man  should  think,  feel  and  act  in  accord  with  his 
moral  nature,  and  implies  that  moral  thought,  feel- 
ing and  action  are  necessarily  followed  by  a  certain 
effect. 

As  natural  law  is  conjoined  with  the  notion  of 
cause  and  effect,  so  moral  law  implies  that  a  man's 
moral  state  or  act  is  naturally,  and  so  necessarily,  fol- 
lowed by  certain  effects  or  consequences;  and  these 
sooner  or  later  prove  to  be  either  joyous  or  painful. 

The  moral  nature  must  have  been  given  to  man  by 
the  Creator,  hence  it  has  a  necessary  and  imperative 
character. 

Wayland's  IMoral  Science  makes  moral  law  denote 


46  MORAL  AXD  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE 

an  order  of  sequence  between  the  moral  quality  of 
acts  and  their  results.  This  enlarges  the  idea — as  it 
should  be — to  include  in  the  effects  or  results,  not 
merely  the  effect  upon  the  immediate  actor  or  doer, 
but  the  effect  upon  all  who  may  be  morally  responsi- 
ble, for  moral  law  regards  moral  acts  in  their  reality 
as  facts — not  merely  the  moral  quality,  as  to  the  in- 
dividual doer,  which  is  largely  in  the  intent. 

When  God  says  "  Love  me,"  he  means  a  pure  and 
true  love  in  very  fact  and  deed.  This  love  accords 
with  man's  moral  nature,  when  the  true  law  of  man"s 
nature  is  free  to  manifest  itself,  or  is  free  to  act. 

No  love  of  man's  distorted  imagination  will  fulfill 
this  law.  Saul  imagined  he  showed  love  to  God  by 
persecuting  the  Christians.  The  moral  quality  of 
his  act  as  affecting  his  personal  guilt  and  liability 
was.modified,  but  was  not  changed  from  bad  to  good, 
by  his  honest  though  mistaken  intent.  There  is  a 
degree  of  responsibility  for  doing  a  bad  act  even  with 
honest  intent.  Saul's  act  was  contra  to  the  law  of 
his  moral  nature,  for  that  nature  uses  all  the  faculties 
of  the  soul  in  its  search  for  the  true  and  the  right. 
Saul  did  not  do  this,  but  allowed  himself  to  be  sub- 
ject to  the  prejudices  of  his  race,  and  his  one-sided 
education. 

i6.  Written  Moral  Laws. — Written  moral 
laws  are  the  authoritative  statement  of  rules  to  regu- 
late moral  conduct;  such  arc  the  commandments  of  the 
decalogue  and  other  Divine  precepts,  as  well  as  the 
regulations  an-d  laws  found  in  accord  therewith,  and 
made  and  established  by  wise  legislators. 


WRITTEN  MORAL  LAWS.  47 

The  authority  of  moral  law  is  either  in  the  Divine 
utterance  of  it,  or  else  in  its  evidently  being  in  accord 
with  the  law  of  the  moral  nature,  or  both,  namely: 
the  wisdom  and  the  Divine  utterance  of  a  moral 
law  may  both  be  evident.  For  instance,  the  first 
commandment  is  :  "  Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods 
before  me." 

There  is  wisdom  and  there  is  necessity  seen  in  this 
commandment  when  we  reflect  that  the  violation  of 
it  would  contravene  the  native  primary  moral  law  of 
the  soul,  to-wit:  its  tendency  to  love  the  true  and 
the  right,  for  by  the  study  of  God  in  his  word  and 
work  we  see  that  he  alone  is  the  true,  the  right  and 
the  good ;  and  to  set  up  another  God,  or  another 
Good,  would  be  to  pervert,  even  to  subvert,  man's 
moral  nature. 

And,  too,  there  appears  to  be  a  necessity  for  the 
Divine  utterance  of  this  command,  because  without  a 
display  of  Divine  authority  men  might  never  have 
fully  apprehended  the  wisdom  of  this  first  law  of  the 
decalogue ;  and  if  necessity  be  in  it,  then  its  idea  or 
type  is  that  of  a  self-evident  universal  law. 

The  moral  act  of  obedience  to  the  moral  nature 
implies  a  will,  whose  office  is  to  choose  and  to  do 
the  right  act. 

From  the  view  now  given  of  the  moral  nature  we 
see  its  function  and  the  auxiliary  faculties  and 
powers. 

First,  its  innate  appetency  for  the  true,  right  and 
good  and  its  innate  cognition  thereof,  when  there  is 
an  a  priori  necessity,  or  is  ground  for  the  self- 
evident. 


4S  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIEXCE. 

Second,  the  reasoning  faculty,  that  inquires  into 
particular  cases  of  right  and  wrong,  and  determines 
why  this  act  or  that  act  is  right,  when  there  is  not 
self-evidence. 

Third,  the  zfiil,  that  spontaneously,  or  of  its  own 
accord, chooses  and  carries  into  effector  executes  the 
right  act  or  the  wrong  one. 

Fourth,  the  conscioicc,  with  its  intuitive  discern- 
ment or  immediate  knowledge  of  the  disposition  of 
the  will  to  do  wright  or  wrong,  and  with  its  power  to 
give  joy  or  sorrow  to  the  soul,  according  as  the  in- 
tents and  acts  of  the  soul  are  good  or  bad. 

Origin  of  the  moral :  The  moral  nature  is  prior  to 
the  discover^'  and  the  discernment  of  relations  between 
one's  soul  and  some  other  being,  and  it  lies  at  the  very 
foundation  of  moral  ideas.  In  accord  with  this  is 
the  tenor  of  the  scripture  referring  to  Gentiles 
"who  do  by  nature  the  things  contained  in  the  law 
(Romans  2  :  12-15.) 

The  context  shows  there  must  be  good-will ;  a 
conscience  bearing  witness  ;  and  also  intelligent  ac- 
tion— the  thoughts  of  the  soul  "accusing"  or  else 
"excusing,"  as  to  the  determinations  of  the  will. 

For  this  intelligent  action,  Kant  gives  the  ex- 
pression, "Act  always  in  such  manner  that  the  im- 
mediate motive  of  thy  will  may  become  a  universal 
law."  This — his  categorical-imperative — demands 
that  what  we  will  to  do  shall,  in  moral  aspect,  be 
such  as  all  holy  intelligences — God,  angels,  and  men  of 
good-will  and  of  sound  mind — would  pronounce  true 
and  right — right  in  motive  and  in  act.  This  is  sim- 
ply Kant's   philosophic   view    and    enunciation    of 


RELK./ON.  Vd 

Jesus'  sublime  precept  commonly  known  as  the 
Golden  Rule.  A  similar  sentiment  was  not  un- 
known to  the  wise  and  good  in  the  Pagan  world, 
thus  evidencing  its  universality  as  constitutional  in 
man. 

The"  moral,"  then,  has  a  constitutional  origin,  and 
the  varied  departures  from  morality  are  due  to  an 
evil  imagination,  and  to  an  imperfect  and  wrong  edu- 
cation of  the  intellect  and  the  soul. 

17.  Religion. — The  first  commandment,  in  its 
first  clause,  "I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,"  announces 
that  there  is  religion,  and  that  the  Lord  is  the  object 
of  it.  The  second  clause,  "  Thou  shalt  have  no  other 
gods  before  me,"  presupposes  that  the  religion  nat- 
ural to  the  soul  is  liable,  on  account  of  the  evil 
imaginations  of  man's  heart,  and  the  influence  of  evil 
tendencies  and  motives — is  liable  to  abuse,  perver- 
sion, corruption  ;  and  that  this  is  the  fact ;  that  there 
is  retrogression  in  religion,  as  well  as  a  progression,  is 
proved  by  the  history  of  every  people,  and  by  the 
biography  of  individuals  among  the  most  enlight- 
ened, civilized  and  Christianized. 

Natural  religion,  in  its  origin,  is  what  religion  a 
man  has  by  "  gift  of  nature  ;"  by  the  religious  consti- 
tution given  him  by  the  Creator;  and  this  gift  is  to 
be  cultivated  and  perfected  by  the  "  light  of  nature  " 
under  the  guidance  of  the  moral  nature,  the  under- 
standing and  the  reasoning  faculties. 

Man  sees  some  objects  in  the  world  which  he    un- 
derstands   in    part ;   others    which    he     knows    very 
little  of. 
4 


50  MORAL  AND  RELKilOUS  SCIEXCE. 

The  countless  stars  in  the  blue  v^ault  of  heaven  are 
beyond  his  knowledge  ;  the  trees  that  grow  up  out  of 
the  ground  he  becomes  familiar  with,  and  enjoys 
their  fruit  and  shade;  but  how  it  is  that  they  grow, 
he  knows  not.  The  hidden  springs  of  life — these 
unknown  forces  of  nature,  and  the  varied  objects  of 
the  universe  incomprehensible  in  number  and  extent, 
fill  the  mind  of  man  with  wonder  and  awe,  and  he  is 
necessarily  led  to  ascribe  their  existence  to  a  Supreme 
cause,  whose  existence  he  contemplates  with  fear 
and  profound  reverence.  All  things  we  refer  to  a 
cause,  because  man's  mind  is  so  constituted  that  the 
idea  of  cause  necessarily  arises  when  we  see  objects 
existing  or  in  motion  as  the  fixed  stars  in  their  places  ; 
or  the  sun,  moon  and  planets  in  their  courses.  And 
man  contemplates  nature  with  reverence  for  a  like 
reason  ;  namely,  he  is  so  constituted  as  to  regard 
with  awe  and  reverence  the  unknown  cause  of  na- 
ture, and  is  constituted  with  a  disposition  to  obey 
the  will  of  the  great  Author  of  all. 

This  natural  feeling  of  reverence  for  a  superior  be- 
ing is  further  cultivated  by  the  discovery  and  dis- 
cernment of  power,  of  wisdom  and  of  goodness  in 
his  creations. 

Power  is  seen  in  the  vastness  of  his  works  :  "  The 
heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  firmament 
showeth  his  handiwork."     (Psalms  19:  i.) 

Wisdom  is  seen  in  all  the  forces,  arrangements  and 
adaptations  of  nature. 

Goodness  is  seen,  in  that  the  creations  are  de, 
signed  to  produce  happiness  and  pleasure  in  sentient 
beings. 


RELIGION.  51 


This  consciousness  of  limitation  in  his  powers;  this 
feeling  of  ignorance  and  inferiority  and  dependence 
in  the  presence  of  nature  and  of  the  Creator,  together 
with  the  reverential  feeling  that  naturally  accom- 
panies it,  is  the  foundation,  the  groundwork  of  nat- 
ural religion. 

So,  too,  we  find  that  man  has  a  natural  love  for 
whatever  is  true  and  right,  and  that  is  the  ground  of 
morality. 

These  two  feelings — rcvcrciuc  for  the  supreme, 
love  for  the  true — though  distinct  as  a  religious  na- 
ture, and  a  moral  nature,  yet  flow  on  together  as  a 
religious  moral  element  in  the  formation  of  character, 
or  in  the  formation  of  a  channel,  or  habitual  course 
of  right  feeling  and  right  doing.  Religion  cannot 
rise  higher  than  morality,  because  morality  is  a 
necessary  element  in  it,  and  keeps  even  step  with  it ; 
yet  religion  gives  us  sublime  ideas  of  morality, 
because  when  the  religious  element  is  strong, 
cherished  and  enlightened,  it  permeates  or  leavens 
morality  with  a  true  conception  of  God,  as  the 
Creator,  the  Giver,  Upholder  and  sure  Vindicator  of 
all  law  and  order — the  Holy  one ;  yet  as  the  Father 
of  Spirits — the  Saviour  of  his  people,  and  the  foun- 
tain of  good-will  and  loving  care. 

By  this  sign'  we  conquer;  we  transcend  the  realm 
of  intemperate  desire,  of  e\-il  surmisings,  thoughts 
and  imaginations. 

These  first  principles,  then,  are  the  foundation  on 
which  we  build  up  a  superstructure  of  character,  of 
proportions  grand,  harmonious  and  beautiful,  in  all 
the  varied  relations  of  man  to  God  and  men. 


52  MORAL   AXD  h'ELKr/OUS  SCIENCE. 

i8.  Focal  Points  ix  the  Argument. — Focal 
points  in  the  argument  for  natural  religion,  or  for  the 
existence  of  the  Creator  and  his  moral  government: 

A.  Design  i.  As  shown  in  the  affinities  of  certain  elements; 
for  instance,  the  elements  of  oxvgen  and  hydrogen,  that  unite  to 
form  water. 

2.  In  these  affinities  being  in  accord  with  a  law  of  definite  pro- 
portions, without  which  there  could  be  no  adaptation  to  organ- 
ized existence;  as,  for  instance,  in  the  adaptation  of  air  to  the 
lungs,  water  to  the  stomach  of  animals  and  to  the  root  of 
plants. 

3.  Geology  shows  that  physical  forces  within  the  earth  have 
been  used  to  effect  results  and  conditions  necessary,  after  long 
periods  of  time,  to  the  existence  of  its  flora  and  fauna  and  to  man- 
kind; for  instance,  its  primitive  gigantic  dense  flora  of  no  apparent 
use  at  the  period  of  its  growth,  but  after  the  accumulation  in  thick 
strata  and  beds  securely  covered  up  in  the  earth,  is  of  use  for  the 
future  civilized  man.  This  view  of  the  coal  fields  is  equally  ap- 
plicable to  the  iron-ore  beds  and  other  metals — also  to  the  most 
useful  building  rocks,  and  to  the  kind  of  forest  trees  existing  in 
man's  day. 

4.  Physical  nature  shows  gradual  development  and  progres- 
sion, and  as  nature  is  finite,  we  logically  infer  that  in  time  it  ar- 
rives at  its  best  estate. 

5.  That  this  time  has  now  arrived  when  man,  as  an  intellectual, 
moral  and  religious  being,  has  been  given  dominion  over  nature 
to  control  her  forces,  so  far  as  he  can  apply  them  to  his  own  use 
and  benefit — hence  that  man  must  now  be  the  chief  object  of  in- 
terest, specially  as  to  his  moral  and  religious  nature. 

6.  As  our  globe  in  its  imperfect  chaotic  state  was  to  be  valued 
rather  for  what  it  would  be  than  for  what  it  then  was,  so  man  is 
to  be  valued  for  wjuit  he  is  capable  of  rather  than  for  what  he 
now  is. 

B.  The  sixth  point  suggests  man  as  endowed  with  powers  in- 
tellectual, moral,  religious,  capable  of  indefinite  cultivation  and 
improvement.  To  efiect  this  culture  man  needs  a  standard  of 
excellence  and  a  rule  of  life.  He  looks  in  vain  to  his  fellow-man, 
and  the  most  gifted  can  see  the  ideal  standard  within  their  own 


THE   COXSCIEXCE.  .^3 

nature  only  by  a  colored  light — hence  the  need  of,  and  the  argu- 
ment for,  spiritual  aid  to  give  clear  vision. 

C.  Hence  the  moral  law,  originally  limited  to  the  idea  of 
obedience  in  one  regard',  was  amplified  to  a  canon  of  written 
law,  which  at  the  outset  reveals  the  moral  attributes  of  God,  as 
the  corner-stone  of  the  law;  and  this  revelation  of  God  proves  it- 
self to  be  a  true  one,  because  it  is  such  as  alone  could  be  predi- 
cated of  the  Author  of  man's  intellectual,  moral-religious  nature. 

There  is  thus  reciprocity  in  re\elation — the  revelation  of  the 
Creator  through  himself  and  his  creations,  and  the  revelation  of 
man's  moral  nature  through  conscious  self  and  through  the  re- 
vealed perfections  of  the  Creator. 

D.  But  the  revelation  of  the  perfect  Creator  makes  evident  the 
low  estate  of  the  creature,  shows  the  need  and  renders  probable 
the  use  of  means  to  better  his  condition;  namely,  since  his  moral- 
religious  nature  is  crippled  and  overruled  bv  his  corporeal  nature, 
that  there  will  be  imparted  to  him  additional  spiritual  power. 
This  brings  into  view  the  scripture  remedial  dispensation — the 
Spirit-power  in  the  Messianic  realm  and  reign. 

19.  The  Conscienxe.— The  conscience  acts  not 
singly,  but  is  in  joint  action  with  other  faculties,  which 
together  determine  iL'hat  is  right,  when  all  are  in 
sympathy  with  the  moral  nature,  which  determines 
to  the  right;  and  when  the  right  is  perceived  the 
conscience  approves  the  soul's  action,  if  it  is  in  ac- 
cord with  this  perceiv^ed  right,  and  condemns  it  if  it 
be  contra  thereto. 

Conscience  is  a  faculty,  as  a  moral  feeling  or  sensi- 
bility. Of  itself  it  does  not  discover  objective  truth 
and  right,  but  it  is  instantly  sensible  to  the  intent  of 
the  will  as  choosing  to  act  in  accord  w'xXh  or  contra 
to  the  true  and  right. 

The  office  of  the  conscience  is,  in  general,  to  warn 
the  soul  against  being  ruled  and  overcome  by  mo- 
tives that  Icatl  the  will    to  wroiiL:  action    -to  actions 


54  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

contra  to  the  cognitions  of  the  moral  nature.  These 
are  cognitions  of  the  right,  and  are  either  intuitively 
perceived  or  else  are  discovered  by  aid  of  the  under- 
standing, the  reason  and  experience,  when  these  fac- 
ulties and  means  are  dominated  by  the  moral  sen- 
sibilities. 

Moral  intuition  is  possible  when  the  object  of  in- 
tuition is  conditioned  by  a  law  that  has  necessary 
existence,  or  is  universal  and  so  becomes  self-evi- 
dent. Thus  we  have  an  intuition  of  its  being  duty 
to  obey  God,  because  God,  as  the  Creator  of  all,  is 
necessarily  supreme  and  sovereign. 

Some  truths — physical,  moral — are  known  by  self- 
evidence,  and  some  are  discovered  by  the  use  of  the 
understanding  faculties  acting  singly  or  together. 
This  knowledge  the  soul  takes  knowledge  of  by 
what  are  called  cognitions  of  the  consciousness — 
not  that  the  consciousness  is  a  separate  faculty,  or  is 
indeed  a  cognitive  faculty  at  all,  but  it  is  the  con- 
current knowledge  of  two,  of  several  or  of  all  the 
faculties  that  necessarily  accompanies  our  cognitions. 

20.  The  Office  and  Power  of  the  Con- 
science.— The  office  and  power  of  the  conscience 
is  best  illustrated  by  instances  of  its  use.  In  Way- 
land's  Moral  Science  are  several  apt  quotations  from 
Shakspeare.  This  one  illustrates  the  monitoi»y 
power  of  the  conscience. 

One  of  the  men  about  to  murder  the  Duke  of 
Clarence,  to  his  comrade,  discourses  thus  : 

"I'll  not  nicddle  wilh  it  [conscience],  'tis  a  dangerous  thing; 
it  makes  a  man  a  coward  ;  a  man  cannot  steal  but  it  accuseth 


COXSC/EAC/S:   /yS  OFFICE  AXD  /'(>\l  FF.     :..-. 

him  ;  a  man  cannot  swear  but  it  checks  him.  'Tis  a  bUishing 
shame-faced  spirit  tliat  mutinies  in  a  man's  bosom  ;  it  fills  one 
full  of  obstacles.  It  made  me  once  restore  a  purse  of  gold  that 
by  chance  I  found.  It  beggars  any  man  that  keeps  it."  (Rich- 
ard III,  Act  I.) 

In  regard  to  the  agonizing  struggle  that  precedes 
a  meditated  act  of  guilt,  Mrs.  Montague  says : 
"Other  poets  thought  they  had  sufficiently  attended 
to  the  moral  purpose  of  the  drama  by  making  the 
Furies  pursue  the  perpetrated  crime.  Our  author 
[Shakspeare]  waives  their  bloody  daggers  in  the 
road  to  guilt,  and  demonstrates  that  as  soon  as  a 
man  begins  to  hearken  to  ill  suggestions,  terrors 
environ  and  fears  distract  him.  Macbeth's  emo- 
tions are  the  struggles  of  conscience;  his  agonies 
are  the  agonies  of  remorse.  They  are  lessons 
of  justice  and  warnings  to  innocence.  I  do  not 
know  that  any  dramatic  \\riter  except  Shakspeare 
has  set  forth  the  pangs  of  guilt  separate  from  the 
fear  of  punishment."     This  is  the  passage: 

*         *         *         *         "  If  but  this  blow 
Might  be  the  be-all  and  the  end-all  here, 
We'd  jump  the  life  to  come      But  in  these  cases. 
We  still  have  judgment  here  ;  that  we  but  teach 
Bloody  instructions,  which,  lieing  taught,  return 
To  plague  the  inventor.     This  even  handed  justice 
Commends  the  ingredients  of  our  poisoned  chalice 
To  our  own  lii^s."     (Macbeth,  Act  I.) 

The  troubled  and  distracted  soul  under  the  influ- 
ence of  conflictiug  motives,  is  .seen  in  Brutus'  solilo- 
quy about  his  cogitations  and  intents  relative  to 
Caisar ;  thus : 


50  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

"  Since  Cassius  first  did  whet  me  against  Csesar 
I  have  not  slept. 

Between  the  acting  of  a  dreadful  thing 
And  the  first  motion,  all  the  interim  is 
Like  a  phantasma,  or  a  hideous  dream  ; 
The  genius  and  the  mortal  {nstruinents 
Are  then  in  council  ;  and  the  state  of  man. 
Like  to  a  little  kingdom,  sutlers  then 
The  nature  of  an  insui-rection."     (Julius  Ca?sar,  Act  IL) 

Courage  in  a  good  cause,  fear  in  a  bad  one.  is  por- 
trayed in  these  lines: 

"  What  stronger  hreastplate  than  a  heart  imtaifi'^ed  ? 
Thrice  is  he  armed  who  hath  his  quarrel  just, 
And  he  but  naked,  tho'  locked  up  in  steel, 
Whose  conscience  with  injustice  is  corrupted." 

(lleni-y  VL  Act  3.) 

A  like  sentiment  Solomon  utters: 

'■  Tlie  wicked  flee  when  no  man  piusiK-lh  ;  but  the  righteous 
are  hold  as  a  lion." 

And  Shakspeare  this : 

"  Suspicion  always  haunts  the  guilty  mind. 
The  thief  doth  fear  each  bush  an  ollk-er." 

The  voice  of  God  :  The  power  and  function  of 
the  conscience  as  above  noted  refers  the  soul  at 
once,  not  only  to  the  judgment  and  condemnation 
of  its  own  moral  nature,  but  also  to  that  of  the  su- 
preme judge  of  all,  whose  law  cannot  be  evaded. 

Hence  appropriately  the  conscience  has  been 
characterized  as  the  voice  of  God  in  the  soul. 

21.  The  Authority  of  Cox.sciknlk. — Con- 
science, the  only  impulsive  faculty  or  sensil)ility  that 
has  authority:     We  can  speak  of  the  conscience  as  a 


THE  AiTHORITT  OF  COXSCIENCB.  o? 

faculty.  It  is  the  one  faculty  of  the  distinctive 
moral  nature;  it  is  the  categorical-imperative,  just  as 
there  are  several  faculties  of  the  understanding,  to- 
wit:  the  category  of  quantity,  the  category  of  qual- 
ity, the  category  of  relation  or  of  cause. 

But  as  the  conscience  as  a  faculty  is  characterized 
by  feeling — not,  however,  to  the  exclusion  of  intelli- 
gence— there  is  a  tendency  to  class  it  with  other  sen- 
sibilities of  the  soul;  whereas,  by  its  moral  nature  it 
is  placed  in  a  higher  plane,  far  removed  from  every 
other  sensibility  by  the  entire  diameter  of  a  type  of 
being,  and  it  has  authority  over  all  other  sensibility. 

This  might  be  inferred  from  Kant's  cognomen — 
the  "  imperative." 

Dr.  XWayland  and  other  eminent  moral  scientists 
make  it  the  most  authoritative  of  the  sensibilities; 
but  this  carries  an  erroneous  idea ;  for  it  is  the  oily 
authoritative,  the  other  sensibilities  having  no  moral 
authorit}-  at  all. 

They  have  force,  power,  influence,  as  motives  to 
action,  and  these  may  be  good  or  bad  ;  but  good  or 
bad  they  have  no  authorit)'.  The  conscience,  aided 
by  intellect,  sits  in  judgment  upon  each  and  all. 
The  artistic  faculties  that  give  rise  to  our  sensibili- 
ties for  the  beautiful  and  the  poetical  have  a  moral 
tendency,  and  so  are  akin  to  the  moral  faculty,  but 
they  are  allies,  not  rulers;  while  those  sensibilities 
that  manifest  themselves — the  love  of  pleasure,  of 
gain,  of  power — all  lower  forms  of  self-love — are 
neutral  or  else  stand  as  forces  opposed  to  the  moral 
nature,  and  can  have  no  voice  in  the  determination 
of  mijral  conduct. 


58  MORAL   AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

22.  Note  on  Conscience. — Our  rule  must  be  not 
to  turn  aside  from  the  true  path  of  moral  science  to 
explore  by-ways,  to  consider  and  discuss  sundry 
theories;  for  to  do  this  would  extend  and  crowd  and 
confuse  the  text,  to  the  detriment  of  the  design  of 
this  treatise ;  but  not  to  leave  in  doubt  students  who 
refer  to  authorities,  a  brief  explanation  of  the  con- 
science theory,  first  as  herein  stated,  second  as- 
others  see  it,  will  be  expedient — for  this,  as  involv- 
ing the  ground  of  right  and  of  duty,  has  great  signifi- 
cance. 

To  obtain  a  clear  view  of  the  matter,  note — scc- 
tiiui  12,  b. — that  man  is  essentially  a  spirit  endowed 
with  a  moral-religious  nature,  with  intellect,  with 
sensibilities,  with  will-power  ;  that  in  all  that  pertains 
to  the  moral,  the  moral  nature  is  the  central  power. 
The  conscience  has  its  seat,  its  abode,  peculiarly  in  the 
moral  nature,  and  is  a  faculty  thereof.  When  the 
conscience  approves  the  will  of  good  intent,  or  con- 
demns the  bad,  and  so  calls  forth  joy  or  self-rcj)roach, 
its  act  of  approval  or  the  contra  proceeds  from  moral 
sensibilities — not  from  the  intellect  ;  but  when  the 
act  itself  as  moral  or  the  contra  is  judged,  the  judg- 
ment is  obtained  by  calling  in  the  aid  of  intellect. 

The  moral  faculty,  even  when  it  acts  singl)-,  is 
properly  called  conscience — co)iscic)itia — because  in 
its  primary  act  of  cognition — the  cognition  of  the 
will — it  a[)propriates  to  its  own  conscious  knowledge 
of  itself — of  its  own  j^ropcr  nature,  as  loving  the 
truth — the  knowledge  of  the  will's  intent ;  and  ap- 
proves or  condemns  just  as  there  is  harmon}'  or 
discord  between  itself  .md  the  will. 


NOTE  ON  CONSCIENCE.  59 

But  the  conscience  may  be  aided  by  all  its  auxiliary 
powers — by  an  enlightened  intellect,  by  a  good-will, 
by  cultivated  sensibilities,  aesthetic,  moral  and  re- 
ligious ;  that  is,  by  sensibilities  trained  and  habituated 
to  normal  action.  Under  this  condition,  this  normal 
consensus  of  the  moral  faculties,  which  is  called  the 
moral  consciousness,  the  liability  to  error  is  reduced 
to  a  minimum,  though  error  there  may  be,  for  man, 
in  his  best  estate,  is  not  perfect. 

Contra  to  these  views,  there  is  a  long  line  of 
writers  who  hold  that  conscience  is  not  native  to  the 
soul,  but  is  the  product  of  force,  as  in  the  evolution 
theory;  or  of  environment,  as  in  the  Darwinian;  or  is 
the  product  of  associated'  ideas,  of  custom,  usage, 
law  in  the  social  relations  of  men;  or  else  is  the 
product  of  intellect  and  the  sensibilities  applied  to  a 
consideration  of  comparative  pyschology,  namel}',  to 
the  relative  place  and  value  of  the  desires  and 
affections  of  the  soul  in  their  bearing  upon  the  well 
being  of  the  individual  and  of  mankind. 

Among  recent  writers,  this  last  is  the  view  ably 
and  eloquently  argued  at  great  length  by  President 
Porter,  in  his  "  Elements  of  Moral  Science,"  with  a 
weight  of  authority  due  to  one  of  his  distinction. 
Not  to  notice  it,  might  be  construed  as  a\oid- 
ing  it. 

As  to  the  ''functions  of  tJic  intellect  in  moral 
activities  and  experiences,"  Ur.  Porter  \scctions 
jg-^8\  after  certain  suggestions,  to-wit:  "That 
psychology  leads  to  philosophy,  prepares  the  way 
for  moral  science,  and  asks  how  the  intellect  acts  in 
ethical  processes  ;  but  that  it  cannot  ansu  er  this  cjues- 


GO  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

tion  without  implying  that  the  intellect  also  evolves 
certain  products  known  as  ethical  cognitions  or  con- 
ceptions " — elaborately  discusses  said  functions  under 
the  following  heads : 

"  I.  Moral  distinctions  do  not  originate  in  the 
civil  law. 

"2.   Moral  relations  do  not  originate  with  society. 

"  3.  Moral  distinctions  are  not  originated  by  the  fiat 
of  the  Creator,  and  therefrom  reaches  the  conclusion 
that  the  intellect  does  not  derive  moral  relations 
from  without  the  individual  man,  either  in  the  form 
of  information,  or  authority,  or  influence,  but  that  it 
develops  and  learns  them  from  within." 

"  Our  next  problem,"  he  says,  "  is  to  explain  the 
processes  by  which  they  are  originated  within  the 
man  himself." 

But  first  Dr.  Porter  notices  and  discusses  "  the 
several  theories  which  teach  that  the  fundamental 
ethical  concepts  and  sentiments  are  original ;  that 
all  these  theories,  however  antagonistic  in  other 
particulars,  have  this  in  common — that  they  find  the 
origin  of  ethical  conceptions  and  feelings  within  the 
individual  man,  and  wholly  reject  the  doctrine  that 
makes  them  the  products  of  external  influences  and 
teachings." 

A  concise  statement  of  these  theories  runs  thus: 

1.  The  theory  of  the  moral  sense — a  capacity  for 
the  moral  sentiments. 

2.  71ie  theory  that  "  finds  the  original  of  our 
moral  relations  in  the  pure  intellect,  or  the  reason; 
i.  c.,  in  certain  ethical  categories,  which  take  rank 
with  those   that    are   fundamental   to  the    intellect; 


NOTE   ON  CONSCIENCE.  Gl 

'  the  very  notion  of  virtue  implies  the  notion  of  obH- 
gation.'  {Stewart.)  What  is  true  of  the  sentiment  of 
obHgation  is  true  of  the  other  feelings,  as  of  self- 
approbation  or  disapprobation.  The  relation  is  self- 
evident  to  the  intellectual  judgment  or  assent,  and 
the  sentiments  or  feelings  attend  them  by  an  equally 
necessary  but  unexplained  coherence." 

3.  The  theory  that  finds  a  faculty  called  the  prac- 
tical reason,  which  presents  to  the  will  an  authori- 
tative judgment  technically  called  the  categorical- 
imperative.  To  this  the  will  responds  by  reverence 
which  impels  to  action.  This  theory,  as  it  would 
seem,  is  a  combination  of  the  two  preceding,  and  is 
represented  by  Kant  and  his  ethical  followers. 

4.  [Dr.  Porter's  theory.]  "  We  hold  that  moral  re- 
lations and  feelings  require  no  special  faculty  or 
endowment,  whether  it  be  called  the  moral  reason, 
or  moral  sense,  or  practical  reason  ;  but  that  they 
are  the  necessary  products  or  results  of  two  con- 
spicuous human  endowments — the  reflective  intellect 
andthe  voluntary  impulses  or  affections,  .  .  .  So  soon 
as  the  intellect  reflects  upon  the  several  sensibilities 
which  are  subject  to  the  control  of  the  will,  as  com- 
pared with  one  another,  it  must  find  a  standard  of 
ideal  desirableness  or  worth  for  its  springs  of  action. 

"  According  to  this  theory  [continues  Dr.  Porter] 
the  moral  relations,  so  far  as  they  are  rational  or  in- 
tellectual, are  not  original  categories,  but  are  the 
necessary  result  of  a  special  application  of  the 
category  of  adaptation  or  design.  It  also  follows 
that  the  sentiments  of  self-approbation,  obligation, 
and   merit,  are  also  special  applications  of  the  com- 


G2  MORAL  AND  RELKrIOUS  SCIENCE. 

monly  recognized  human  sensibilities,  as  affected  by 
man's  free  and  personal  activity  when  reviewed  by 
man's  conscious  or  reflective  judgment.  It  follows 
that  the  moral  nature  or  the  moral  faculty  are  but 
other  names  for  the  human  faculties  when  employed 
upon  a  special  subject-matter,  and  in  a  peculiar 
manner.  The  products  of  this  special  but  natural 
mode  of  activity  are  moral  ideas  and  moral  emo- 
tions." 

On  the  above  brief  yet  fairly  full  extracts  relative 
to  Dr.  Porter's  theory  of  morals,  comment  must  also 
be  brief.  His  suggestion  that  psychology  cannot 
inform  us  how  the  intellect  acts  in  ethical  processes 
without  implying  that  intellect  evolves  ethical  cogni- 
tions, suggests  that  Dr.  Porter's  theory  of  the  origin 
of  ethical  thought  and  feeling  is  one  of  evolution^ 
possibly  as  objectionable  as  the  Spencerian,  which 
he  justly  condemns;  thus  [his  Elements,  section  45]  : 
"The  evolutionist's  theory  of  morals  presupposes 
that  the  conception  of  perfect  moral  excellence,  as 
an  ideal,  is  the  end  or  aim  to  which  all  social  ar- 
rangements and  influences  tend  and  move;  .  .  .  but 
how  did  it  come  into  being  as  a  thought,  if  it  were  not 
previously  existing  as  a  fact?  .  .  .  According  to  the 
law  of  evolution,  the  absplute  morality  in  both  ideal 
and  law  is  yet  to  be  evolved.  What  it  will  be  and  what 
it  is  to  be  are  problematic  ideas  and  truths,  concern- 
ing which  no  man  can  affirm  with  positiveness  who 
derives  his  ethical  conceptions  from  the  processes  of 
evolution." 

Do  not  these  same  words  of  condemnation  apply 
to  a  theory  of  morals  like  Dr.  Porter's,  that  sets  up  an 


.VOTE  ChV  COXSCIEXCE.  63 

ideal  standard  to  be  attained  to  by  an  intellectual  con- 
sideration and  comparison,  in  conscious  psychology, 
of  the  ordinary  human  affect-ons,  desires  and  motives 
as  good  and  better,  and  a  choice  of  the  better  and 
higher,  prior  to  and  as  means  for  a  production, 
generation  or  evolution  of  moral  ideas  and  emotions? 
Dr.  Porter,  in  section  48,  values  his  own  theory 
because  it  "develops  and  learns  moral  relations  from 
within"  and  proposes  to  "explain  the  processes  by 
w  hich  they  are  originated  within  the  man  himself." 
]^ut  what  kind  of  a  ivithin  is  it  ?  It  is  a  ivithin  of 
ordinary  motives  impelling  the  will,  which  the  intel- 
lect persuades  the  will  to  control  in  accord  with  the 
fitness  of  each  to  help  attain  to  the  ideal  standard. 
This  joint  action  generates  moral  emotions  :  "  Ideas 
of  right  and  wrong  are,  so  to  speak,  the  creations  of 
the  individual  man."  On  the  contra,  iJic  icitJiiu  of 
the  second  and  third  theories  discussed  by  Dr.  Por- 
ter, and  which  we  have  cited  as  above,  is  a  within  of 
an  inborn  moral  nature  endowed  with  "  love  of  the 
right  "  and  a  conscious  faculty  employed  about  the 
instruction  and  control  of  the  will. 

Assuming  that  Dr.  Porter's  "special  subject-mat- 
ter" relates  to  "duty  and  the  right,"  would  it  exist 
for  man  if  man  had  not  a  special  moral  endowment, 
without  which  the  understanding  would  not  perceive 
moral  relations,  more  than  it  would  perceive  world- 
objects,  as  objects  of  experience,  if  there  were  no 
mental  faculties  thus  to  interpret  the  impressions  of 
sense? 

Dr.  Porter  cites,  among  others.  President  James 
McCosh  as  an  advocate  of   the  second  theory  above 


64  MORAL  AXB  REI.ICIOIS  SC/EXCE. 

named  ;  but  President  McCosh,  in  his  discussion  with 
Dr.  Hopkins,  says:  "We  regard  God  as  having  a 
claim  upon  our  love,  not  because  we  are  necessitated 
to  love  him,  or  because  all  men  love  him,  but  because 
it  is  right,  and  men  see  it  to  be  so  at  once."  Here, 
though  we  see  what  is  right,  it  does  not  necessarily 
follow  that  we  do  what  is  right;  the  moral  emotion 
does  not  respond  to  the  intellectual  cognition,  as  it 
ought  to,  to  make  good  Dr.  Porter's  theory  as  to  the 
origin  of  the  moral ;  nor  does  it  alter  the  case  even 
though  we  question  Dr.  McCosh's  proposition,  "that 
it  is  self-evident  to  man  that  God  has  a  claim  on  his 
love."  The  fact  is,  "  men  do  not  see  this  at  once," 
nor  till  after  intellectual,  moral  and  religious  experi- 
ences, which  would  obtain  slowly,  were  we  to  wait 
for  the  evolution  of  the  moral  and  religious  out  of 
the  intellectual,  as  Dr.  Porter  has  it.  Dr.  Porter 
remarks  upon  the  culti\-ation  of  the  moral  nature  in 
an  admirable  manner,  and  his  theory  of  morals  is 
one  of  culti\-ation,  progression,  evolution.  But  the 
present  inquiry  is  not  about  the  cultivation  of  moral 
sensibilities  ;  it  is  about  their  origin.  According  to 
Dr.  Porter,  they  are  the  product  of  reasoning  upon 
a  special  subject ;  but  according  to  theories  lie  con- 
troverts, they  are  inherent  in  man's  soul-constitution. 
The  affection  of  tlie  mother  for  the  child  is 
natural — inborn — is  not  the  i)roduct  of  reasoning 
about  mutual  relations,  and  this  natural  affection 
gives  rise  to  an  intuition  of  duty  in  ministering  to 
its  wants.  Reciprocally  there  is  on  the  part  of  the 
child  a  natural  repose  of  faith  in  and  of  dependence 
upon  its  parent   wliich  gives  rise  to  an  intuition  of 


NOTE   ON  CONSCIENCE.  05 

duty  in  obedience  to  the  maternal  voice.  The  same 
repose  of  faith'  and  of  dependence  characterizes  the 
relation  of  the  intelligent  creature  to  the  Creator, 
when  this  relation  is  not  disturbed  and  interrupted 
by  conscious  transgression. 

But  these  affections  and  intuitions  of  diuty  presup- 
pose the  co-existence  of  a  moral  nature  and  moral 
faculties,  without  which  there  could  be  no  intuition 
of  duty.  Between  the  brute  and  its  offspring  there 
exist  similar  feelings  of  affection,  faith  and  depend- 
ence, yet  entirely  destitute  of  any  element  or  idea  of 
duty,  because  there  is  in  the  brute  no  moral  nature, 
though  there  is  some  degree  of  intelligence. 

Now  we  come  to  Dr.  Porter's  direct  consideration 
of  the  conscience.  His  "  Elements "  (section  105) 
reads:  "Conscience  should  not  be  used  as  an  appel- 
lation for  a  separate  or  special  moral  faculty,  for  the 
reason  that  there  is  no  such  faculty.  Every  step 
and  result  of  the  preceding  analysis  has  gone  to 
show  this." 

"Neither  the  intellect,  sensibility  nor  will  is  known 
to  exercise  peculiar  functions.  The  same  intellect,  so 
far  as  it  knows  itself,  acts  with  respect  to  moral  rela- 
tions under  the  same  laws  and  by  the  same  methods 
of  comparison,  deduction  and  inference  as  when  it  is 
concerned  with  other  material. 

"  Nor  can  we  discover  new  and  peculiar  intuitions 
or  categories,  whether  directly  furnished  by  the  in- 
tellect, or  indirectly  derived  from  the  sensibility  or 
moral  sense.  The  only  intuition  which  makes  itself 
conspicuous  is  the  intuition  of  adaptation  which  in- 
volves design.     But   this  intuition,  it  need   not   be 


66  MORAL  AND  RELKilOiS  SCIENCE. 

said,  is  in  no  sense  limited  to  the  moral  intellect  or 
moral  reason,  but  is  assumed  as  the  postulate  of  sci- 
ence and  philosophy  in  every  form." 

Comment  on  the  above:  The  substance  of  Dr. 
Porter's  "  preceding  analysis,"  which  he  refers  us  to, 
and  of  his  proof  of  the  supremacy  and  sufficiency 
of  the  intellect  conjoined  with  the  will  in  generating 
moral  ideas,  is  this:  that  intellect  determines  or  de- 
cides between  our  varied  sensibilities,  affections,  de- 
sires, as  to  which, under  the  circumstances,  best  accord 
with  man's  highest  good.  If  the  will  chooses  to  act 
in  accord  with  this  decision,  it  is  a  moral  act ;  if  not, 
it  is  contra  to  moral  act.  This  theory  ignores  the 
conscience-yh-a///;'  not  merely  by  the  ipse  dixit, 
"there  is  no  conscience-faculty,"  but  it  ignores  the' 
warning  power  of  conscience,  which,  knowing  the 
intent  of  the  will,  warns  it  not  to  put  it  in  execu- 
tion, if  not  a  right  one.  If  there  be  a  warning 
power  in  conscience  or  in  the  moral  nature — as  poets, 
philosophers  and  all  men  have  it — let  us  take  notice 
that  intellect,  as  intellect,  docs  not  warn,  it  can  only 
advise.      It  is  the  moral  feeling  inborn  that  warns. 

As  to  the  statement  above  cited,  that  "  we  discover 
no  new  and  peculiar  intuitions  or  categories,"  the  very 
essence  of  the  category  is  in  the  naturcof  the  subject. 
The  pecuhar  subject  requires  the  peculiar  category  ; 
moral  causes — a  category  of  relation  with  the  moral 
clement  in  it. 

There  is  the  difference  and  peculiarit}'  of  a  tvpc  of 
/^t/;/^  between  nature  as  external  and  our  moral  na- 
ture, and  this  difference  gives  peculiarity  to  the 
moral  intuition  and  the  category;    for  in  a  disclosure 


NOTE  ON  CONSCIENCE.  67 


of  moral  relations  and  moral  law,  the  function  of 
intellect  is  not  solely  one  of  concepts  and  judgments 
under  the  categories  of  the  understanding,  whereby 
through  sense-impressions  we  obtain  a  knowledge  of 
the  material  world  and  its  laws  involving  cause,  effect, 
quantity,  quality,  degree.  Nor  is  it  an  intuition  like 
a  geometrical  axiom;  nor  is  it  a  logical  process  of  the 
pure  reason,  formal  and  destitute  of  content — but  it 
is  a  pure,  rationalized  moral  intuition  which  intuits 
the  duty  of  obedience  to  the  moral-religious  nature, 
as  loving  truth  and  the  right — hence  the  necessary 
judgment  that  this  "  love  of  the  right  "  must  be  "for 
sake  of  the  right." 

As  to  the  quotation,  "  The  only  intuition  which 
makes  itself  conspicuous,"  science,  it  is  true,  assumes 
or  postulates  that  its  subject-matter  has  system, 
form,  design;  but  what  has  this  to  do  with  intuition? 
If  we  could  see  the  system,  form,  design  in  science 
b\-  intuition,  the  road  thereto  would  be  easy — no 
need  of  close  study.  A  locomotive  or  a  watch 
shows  its  design  not  b\'  intuition,  but  by  study  of 
its  structure  and  use.  In  fact  we  cannot  intuit 
adaptation,  design,  for  these  we  discover  by  the  use 
of  the,understanding  through  categories  of  relation; 
but  the  understanding  does  not  intuit;  it  connects 
intuitions  into  a  synthesis,  a  unity  of  perception. 
The  catci^ory  has  its  own  place  and  function;  nor  can 
we  speak  of  it  as  "derived  from  the  sensibility." 

The  category  gives  form  to  impressions  of  sense. 
Sense-perception  is  not  complete  till  the  impressions 
of  sense  are  cognized  by  the  understanding  facul- 
ties, and  through  the  categories  of  quantit}-,  tjualit)-. 


6S  MORAL  AXD  RELKjIUUS  SCIENCE. 

relation,  are  brought  into  an  orderly  synthesis,  giving 
such  order  and  unity  to  the  object  as  makes  of  it  an 
object  of  experience. 

This  does  not  mean  that  the  condition  of  the  ob- 
ject is  one  of  chaos,  which  the  understanding  facul- 
ties have  to  transform  into  an  orderly  arrangement. 
It  means  that  the  order  in  the  object  is  seized  upon 
by  \.\\&  a  priori  conditions  or  forms  of  the  under- 
standing, and  are  made  its  own ;  for  though  these 
a  priori  faculties  wait  for  the  excitation  of  sense-im- 
pression, they  yet  evidently  have  the  priority,  for  the 
continued  activity  of  the  understanding  does  not 
depend  on  the  continued  presence  of  sense-afTection  ; 
but  by  power  of  the  imagination  it  creates  objects 
of  its  own,  which,  though  like  nature,  do  not  in  re- 
ality exist  in  nature.  •  This  is  the  substance  of 
Kant's  theory  of  perception,  or  of  a  transcendental 
use  of  the  understanding  in  the  apprehension  of 
the  phenomenal  object — vastly  more  satisfactory 
than  the  theory  of  a  dead  passivity  of  the  un- 
derstanding in  the  reception  of  sense-impres- 
sion. Even  Dr.  Stirling,  who,  at  times,  "damns 
Kant  with  faint  i)raise,"  credits  him  here  with  ha\-- 
ing  "  made  a  distinguished  notch."  liut,  it  may  be 
asked,  what  have  perception-theories  to  do  with  the 
conscience?  Much,  vitalh'  much,  for  if  our  under- 
standing be  mere  receptivity,  like  a  blank  sheet  of 
paper,  instead  of  connecting  given  intuitions  in  ex- 
perience, we  might,  with  Dr.  Porter,  i)redicate  of  it 
an  intuition  of  design  ;  and  as  for  categories,  we 
would  have  no  use  for  them  ;  if  no  categories,  then 
there  is  no   condition,  form  or  faculty  to  the   moral 


THE  FUNCTION  OF  THE   WILL.  (J!i 

nature ;  and  as  Dr.  Porter  already  has  it,  "  there  is 
no  conscience-faculty."  What  we  call  conscience  is 
merely  "  the  product  of  the  intellect  and  the  will 
passing  judgment  upon  the  comparative  place  we 
should  give  to  our  affections,  desires,  motives,  in 
view  of  man's  highest  ends."  Conscience  indwelling, 
abiding  with  love  of  the  right,  as  the  central  power 
of  the  soul's  moral  nature,  is  thus  extinguished,  and 
along  with  this  extinguishment  is  necessarily  blotted 
out  all  innate  idea  of  duty,  and  for  lack  of  native 
moral  sensibilities,  like  respect  for  what  is  excellent 
and  superior  in  man,  and  reverence  for  God,  we  have 
no  intuitions  of  duty — all  duty  is  conditioned  upon 
a  study  of  what  constitutes  the  highest  good. 

On  the  contra,  the  doctrine  of  this  treatise  is, 
that  man  has  within  him  by  nature  a  love  for  truth 
and  the  right ;  that  this  feeling  or  affection  of  the 
soul  moves  the  intellect  to  formulate  the  principle 
that  we  should  do  right  "  for  sake  of  the  right,"  or 
from  love  of  it — a  principle  that  intellect  would  be 
incapable  of  formulating,  except  the  idea  were  fur- 
nished by  its  perception  of  the  "moral  nature,"  as 
loving  the  right. 

This  principle  at  once  bears  upon  the  Will,  which 
must  be  governed  b}'  it  in  all  its  volitions,  if  it  would 
be  a  good  will. 

23.  The  Function  of  the  Will. — The  func- 
tion of  the  will  is  to  execute — or  not  to — the 
thoughts,  the  desires  and  the  affections  of  the  soul. 
These  ma}-  be  with  or  \\ith()ut  a  moral  element  or 
character. 


70  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

George  has  set  before  him  a  plum  and  a  pear,  to 
take  either.  He  chooses  the  plum.  Here  the  will 
acts,  but  there  is  no  moral  element. 

His  mother  now  comes  in  and  says  :  "  George,  you 
must  not  eat  the  plum;  you  may  eat  the  pear." 

Now,  there  enters  into  George's  choice  a  moral 
element,  which  quite  overshadows  his  choice  of  the 
fruit. 

He  ought  to  obey  his  mother ;  ought  to  put  back 
the  plum,  and  take  the  pear.  He  can,  ho\\ever,  dis- 
obey and  eat  the  plum,  in  spite  of  his  mother's 
order. 

In  his  being  able  to  subject  his  desire  for  the  plum 
to  the  duty  of  obedience,  and  also  in  his  being  able 
to  do  what  he  ought  not  to  do,  namely,  to  disobey 
his  mother,  there  is  involved  the  idea  or  notion  of 
liberty,  or  of  the  freedom  of  the  will. 

The  will,  if  pure  and  good,  will  act,  in  all  moral 
questions,  in  accord  with  the  soul's  moral  conscious- 
ness ;  that  is,  in  accord  with  the  \iew  of  duty  the 
soul  has  through  the  concurrent  intelligence  of  the 
pure  reason,  the  understanding  and  the  moral 
faculties — experience  inclusive.  The  freedom  of 
the  ivill  consists  in  its  constitutional  ability  to  obey 
or  to  disregard  the  dictates  of  the  moral  conscious- 
ness. 

That  sublime  harmony  that  exists  between  the 
liberty  of  the  soul  and  its  subjection  to  law  can  be 
conceived  of — is  a  fact  of  consciousness,  but  yet  is 
difficult  to  express. 

We  say  the  will  acts  naturally,  according  to  the 
constitution   of    man's  nature,    when    it    harmonizes 


THE  FINCTION  OF  THE    WILL.  71 

with  the  moral  nature  ;  but  yet  it  is  not  necessitated 
so  to  act,  except  by  moral  necessit}-. 

Physical  necessities — laws  of  nature — man  cannot 
by  will  escape  from.  He  can,  though,  from  moral 
necessity;  and  his  will  has  liberty  and  ability  to  go 
contra  to  the  law  of  his  own  moral  nature. 

In  ph\-sical  law,  the  effect  is  positive,  and  can  be 
estimated  and  calculated  to  a  dot ;  and  will  not  be 
unheeded,  except  by  a  \-ery  stupid  will. 

So  in  moral  law,  the  effect  is  sure  to  follow,  but  it 
cannot  be  certainly  estimated  and  calculated,  and 
will  often  be  unheeded  by  a  proud,  haught)',  stub- 
born or  depraved  will. 

When  the  will  acts  in  accord  with  and  under  the 
guidance  of  the  true  and  the  right,  its  action  is  free, 
voluntary,  for  the  very  idea  of  true  freedom'  in- 
cludes that  of  truth  and  right. 

The  true,  the  right  is  not  by  man's  constitution 
foreign  to  the  will,  but  it  is  a  part  of  its  nature,  an(i 
his  freedom  is  not  abridged,  cannot  be  abridged,  by 
his  own  proper  constitution.  It  is  abridged  only  by 
false  reasoning,  wrong  feelings  and  bad  motives. 

These  are  all  of  the  empirical  character.  The 
spontaneity  and  autonomy  of  the  will  asserts  itself 
wlien,  acting  in  virtue  of  its  own  true  constitutional 
principles,  it  sets  aside  these  contra- motives,  and  res- 
olute]}' pursues  the  right. 

Volitions  do  not  have  a  time-relatic^n  like  events, 
namely,  effects  from  cause.  Volitions  are  sponta- 
neous and  are  not  determined.  The  will  is  actetl 
upon  by  a  certain  determinate  train  of  motives,  that 
have  a  constant  form  and  effect ;  but  the  }-ielding  or 


72  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIEXCE. 

the  resistance  of  the  will  is  not  a  part  of  the  train 
of  cause  and  effect. 

Will-action  is  spontaneity  originating  in  the  w  ill 
itself.     It  is  freedom. 

Yet  we  find  it  difficult  to  say  the  will  is  free, 
while  it  is  ruled  by  a  sinful  disposition ;  and  this 
difficulty  has  given  rise,  on  the  one  hand,  to  a  phi- 
losophy of  entire  independence  of  the  will,  as  of  a 
faculty  or  a  personality  of  the  soul,  that,  far  from 
being  subject  to  the  strongest  motive,  has  no  con- 
nection with  or  relation  to  motive ;  and  on  the  other 
hand  has  given  rise  to  a  philosophy  of  "  denial  of 
freedom,"  as  that  of  Bain.  The  idea  of  treed(jm 
and  responsibilit}',  coupled  with  indisposition,  he 
calls  a  "  metaphysical  puzzle." 

The  true  doctrine  of  the  will  seems  to  be  that  tiie 
will  represents  the  determinations  of  the  soul — de- 
terminations not  as  to  its  Jiidgvioits,  but  as  to  its 
^r/jT,  that  the  will  is  influenced  and  constrained  by 
sundry  motiv^es  ;  but  is  not  fettered  and  bound  by 
them.  The  indisposition  to  act  in  accord  with  con- 
viction of  duty  argues  moral  weakness,  not  moral  in- 
ability. It  does  not,  however,  abridge  the  freedom 
of  the  will,  nor  cancel  responsibility. 

Will  Defined:  It  is  very  difficult  to  make  a  defi- 
nition to  cover  every  phase  of  the  will;  but  in 
accord  with  the  view  above  given,  the  will  may  be 
defined  thus : 

The  controlling  executive  power  and  personality 
of  the  soul  impelled  by  sensibility  and  feeling,  yet 
when  well-disposed,  obedient  to  the  voice  of  con- 
science, to  the  instructions  of  the  understanding  and 


APPETITES;  DESIRES;  AEFECTIONS.         73 

to  the  logic  of  reason,  holding  in  check  under  due 
restraint  wayward  appetites  desires  and  passions, 
and  so  giving  moral  power  and  dignity  to  the 
man. 

On  the  contra,  the  will  bad  or  deficient  in  force 
and  vacillating  allows  the  propensities  to  run  into 
excess;  fails  in  e\X'ry  duty  and  makes  a  wreck  of  hu- 
man nature.     (Romans  8  :   13.) 

As  persona/,  the  will  is  the  centre  of  the  spirit  in 
man,  well  disposed  till  enticed  and  led  captive  by  its 
own  fault  in  "  minding  earthly  things.'"" 

24.  Appetites  ;  Desires;  Affectioxs.  —  Ap- 
petites:    Hunger  and  thirst  are  appetites. 

These  lead  to  or  induce  instinctive  or  else  intelli- 
gent action  in  order  to  satisfy  them. 

Each  a[)petite  is  a  peculiar  sensation  within  the 
vital  organ  that  craves  food  or  water. 

Desires  are 

1.  Primary,  as  belonging  to  the  constitution  of 
the  soul,  thus:  The  desire  of  property  is  a  desire  of 
accumulation ;  of  poller,  comes  from  that  of  rule, 
influence,  superiority,  pre-eminence.  We  have,  too, 
the  desire  of  knowledge,  of  esteem  and  other  desires. 

The  primary  desire  is  abstract,  namely:  is  a  feel- 
ing or  longing  for  a  class  of  objects  abstract  from  the 
particular  person  or  thing. 

2.  Secondary :  Secondary  desires  are  concrete, 
and  are  the  product  of  other  affections. 

Love  creates  a  desire  for  the  safety  and  happiness 
— or,  in  general  terms,  for  the  good — of  the  lo\'ed 
object. 


74  MORAL  AXD  RELKilOlS  SCIENCE. 

Love  itself  is  secondary  when  it  is  generated  or 
produced  by  possession. 

From  the  desire  of  acquisition  we  come  to  love 
the  thing  acc^uired.  Ha\ing  acquired  gold,  we  love 
gold ;  having  acquired  a  friend,  through  love  of 
society,  or  a  fellow-sympathy,  or  social  appetency, 
we  come  to  love  the  friend. 

From  the  love  of  simple  qualities  perceived  or 
imagined  in  a  person — truth,  right,  beauty,  purit)- — 
we  love  the  person. 

This  is  the  ground  of  true  love  between  the  young 
man  and  the  maiden.  It  becomes  "  a  good  "  \\hen 
time  and  experience  pro\-e  these  virtues  real  and  not 
imaginary. 

Affections:  The  natural  affections  are  those  ex- 
ercised in  social  and  in  family  relations — as  the  love 
of  a  friend,  companion,  parent,  child,  and  the  lo\-e  of 
home  and  one's  country. 

These  affections  become  sentiments  when  they 
give  rise  to  thoughts  and  theories,  opinions  and  feel- 
ings' as  to  what  is  economic,  useful,  honorable, 
proper,  virtuous  and  right  in  relation  to  them. 

25.  Love  ;  Love  of  God,  of  Country,  of  Gold. 
— Love,  as  moral,  consists  in  love  of  the  truth,  of  the 
right,  of  beauty,  of  purity,  of  modesty,  of  harmon\' ; 
in  general,  of  whatever  is  clear  and  simple,  not  mixed. 

These  constitute  the  principle  of  the  f^ood. 

The  quality,  ^fw<'/,  is  found  in  a  harmonic  fitness, 
as  when  God  pronor.nced  his  work  good,  because  it 
was  in  agreement  or  in  harmony  with  constitutional 
law.  and  w  ith  his  cksieii  \n  the  creation. 


LOVE   OF  OOD,   COL  .\Jin\   i,OLD. 


Love  may  be  under  the  guidance  of  the  reason, 
and  only  in  this  sense  can  it  be  called  rational  love. 
It  has  within  itself  no  element  of  thought  or  reason. 
Lo\e  is  not  a  reasoning  of  the  soul,  it  is  a  pure  feel- 
ing ;  a  pure  longing  for  all  that  is  beautiful,  admirable, 
useful  and  good,  whether  in  the  reality  or  only  in 
our  imaginings. 

Love,  though  innate,  exists  at  first  in  an  elemen- 
tary inchoate  state,  which  develops  in  the  progressive 
life  with  varied  tendencies  in  accord  \\ith  the  kind 
of  object  toward  which  it  is  directed  ;  among  the 
noblest  of  these  being  the  love  of  wisdom,  or  philoso- 
ph)-,  lo\-e  of  countr\',  of  home,  of  friends,  and  highest 
of  all,  the  love  of  things  heavenly — the  love  of  God. 

Law  of  Lo\'e  :  Unwritten  constitutional  law  exists 
by  nature  in  man.  Written  law  is  the  exposition  of 
law  implanted  in  man's  nature.  The  constitutional 
law  of  love  is,  that  love  seeks  the  loveable.  But  this 
love  under  the  influence  of  the  moral  nature  seeks  out 
even  the  unloveable  for  their  good.  This  now  is  lo\'e 
modified  by  a  sense  of  duty ;  that  is,  when  love  be- 
comes a  virtue,  it  acts  under  the  force  of  moral  sensi- 
bility;  so  that  love,  instead  of  having  in  itself  moral 
law,  or  instead  of  being  a  ground-principle  in  morals 
is  by  the  moral  law  of  right  and  duty  seized  upon 
and  made  use  of,  as  a  powerful  auxiliary,  in  aid  of 
virtuous  ends. 

Our  "love  of  God"  is  right  lo\e  when  we  see  God 
as  he  is.  Mere  the  "  law  of  love  "  is  "to  love  with 
all  the  heart."  This  is  the  right  expression  of  the 
law  of  our  love  as  to  God,  because  God  is  assumed 
to  be  entirely  loveable. 


7G  MORA/.  AXD  RELKilOUS  SCIENCE. 

As  to  man,  the  law  of  our  love  is  "to  love  as  we 
love  ourselves."  For  companionship,  the  law  of 
love  is,  to  love  loveable  companions — not  bad  dis- 
posed ones.  Here  we  love  for  like  reason  that  we 
love  God ;  yet  it  would  be  absurd  to  apply  the  same 
law  of  love,  to-wit,  "  with  all  the  soul  and  strength." 
This  law  of  love  rules,  and  can  rule,  only  when  God 
is  the  object;  but  cannot  rule  as  to  our  love  for  a 
companion. 

Love  of  country  is  akin  to  love  of  property,  but 
on  a  higher  plane.  We  hold  our  country  as  a 
peculiar  possession,  to  which  is  attached  the  love  of 
home. 

The  ethic  law  of  this  love  is  in  a  love  that  values 
one's  country  more  than  any  material  possession, 
but  less  than  a  moral  possession  ;  or  less  than  the 
holding  fast  to  the  right,  or  to  a  good  conscience. 
The  pure  love  of  country  is  not  always  silent,  but  is 
often  accompanied  with  a  lofty  enthusiasm,  which 
leads  to  noble  action  and  self-sacrifice.  The  patriotic 
men  who,  July  4,  1776,  signed  the  Declaration  of 
American  Independence,  in  the  cause  of  the  country, 
"  with  a  firm  reliance  on  the  protection  of  Divine 
Providence,  mutually  pledged  to  each  other  their 
lives,  their  fortunes  and  their  sacred  honor." 

In  the  love  of  gold  the  ethic  law  is,  not  to  love 
gold,  as  the  miser  docs,  for  its  mere  possession,,  but 
for  the  good  use  it  can  be  put  to.  When  this  law 
does  not  prevail,  this  love  becomes  ignoble,  sordid, 
base. 

There  is,  then,  no  virtue  in  the  mere  act  of  loving, 
but  only  in  overcoming  obstacles  to  a  pure  love. 


LOVE   OF  GOD,   COrVTl?}'.   GOLD.  77 

Love  as  concrete,  namely,  as  having  a  natural  or  a 
personal  object,  can  be  no  ground  of  right,  for  right 
itself  is  ultimate ;'  yet  love  imparts  to  the  moral 
faculties  art  enthusiasm  of  the  soul  in  right  endeavor. 
Hence  we  need  not  be  led  astray  by  the  unfounded 
notion  that  the  abstract  principle  or  ground  of  right 
is  identical  with  the  highest  incentive  to  the  practice 
of  the  right. 

The  principle  of  right,  the  abstract  notion,  the 
inborn  desire,  the  appetency  for  the  right,  and  the 
tendency  to  it,  exists  as  a  distinct  moral  faculty,  or 
moral  emotion,  combining  intelligence  and  feeling  as 
to  our  relations  with  God  and  man. 

Our  intuitive  moral  judgments  and  our  moral 
reasonings  act  through  this  faculty,  which  also  in  its 
action  is  authoritative  or  imperative,  not  arbitrarily, 
but  because  clothed  upon  with  truth  and  the  right. 
This  is  the  distinct  view  we  must  hold  of  the  moral 
category,  the  imperative.  But  on  the  other  hand, 
moral  commandments,  the  decalogue ;  the  two  great 
commandments,  love  God;  love  man;  all  moral 
rules  and  laws  are  for  the  purpose  of  giving  the  con- 
crete or  objective  meaning'  and  application  of  this 
moral  principle,  as  well  as  for  the  cultivation  and 
strengthening  of  it  by  use  and  practice.  To  this 
end  love  is  enjoined  as  the  purest  and  strongest 
motive  power  to  influence  the  soul  for  good. 

The  love  of  God  with  the  whole  heart,  with  all 
the  love  of  which  man  is  capable,  cannot  be  attained 
to  and  applied  to  a  discrimination  and  enforcement 
of  the  right,  through  the  moral  sense,  without  suita- 
ble methods  in  the  studv  and  cognition   of  God,  in 


7S  MORAL   AND  RELTGTOUS  SCIEXCE. 

all  those  loveable  qualities  in  which  he  reveals  himself 
to  the  diligent  and  devout  student  in  nature  and  in 
the  word. 

The  emotional  nature  of  man,  then,  in  its  love  for 
the  truth,  and  for  the  maintenance  of  the  right,  is 
not  to  be  identified  with  his  emotional  nature  as 
shown  in  the  love  contemplated  in  the  first  and  great 
commandment,  and  which  goes  out  toward  him  who 
is  the  embodiment  of  the  truth  and  the  right. 

The  former  love,  the  first  kind  of  love,  the  long- 
ing of  the  soul  for  whatever  is  true  and  right  without 
a  direct  reference  to  any  one  object,  is  the  ground- 
principle  in  the  moral  nature. 

The  latter  love,  or  the  second  kind  of  love,  is  love 
for  an  object,  in  which  the  qualities  and  character- 
istics of  truth  are  seen  to  exist  and  dwell,  and  it  has 
its  origin  in  the  first  kind  of  love. 

It  would  be  impossible  for  us  to  love  God  if  we 
did  not  first  have  within  us  a  ground-principle  of 
love  for  the  true  and  the  right : 

"I  could  not  love  thcc  thus,  yLucasta^ 
Lov'd  I  not  honor  more." 

Nor  would  it  be  possible  to  love  our  neighbor 
without  this  same  ground-principle,  which,  when 
possessed  as  a  living  active  principle,  is,  as  the 
apostle  has  it,  "the  fulfillment  of  the  law." 

26.  Self-Love,  Instinctive. — We  love  our- 
selves naturally,  but  not  from  the  moral  nature. 

Self-love  is  sui generis,  arising  from  itself,  not 
from  any  other  kind  of  love.     It  is  compatible  with 


SELF-LOVE,  rXSTTNCTIVE.  79 

moral  love,  namely,  the  "  love  of  the  true,  the  right 
and  the  good,"  but  is  not  grounded  in  it.  It  is 
grounded  in  instinct. 

All  animals — man  included — have  an  instinctive 
dread  of  bodily  harm.  Self-love  as  instinct,  relates 
to  the  preservation  of  what  we  already  possess — not 
at  all  to  the  gratification  of  appetite. 

When  we  eat  bread  for  the  sustenance  of  the 
body,  it  is  from  self-love,  or  an  innate  desire  of  self- 
preservation  ;  when  for  sake  of  the  pleasure  in  it,  it 
is  to  gratify  the  appetite. 

Self-love  can  never  become  selfishness,  except  by 
a  degeneration  and  by  a  passage  from  the  bounds  of 
a  good  nature  to  those  of  a  base  nature.  Nor  is 
self-love  cold  and  calculating.  It  acts  prompt,  and 
by  a  natural  impulse.  We  do  not  acquire  anything 
through  self-love;  we  only  hold  on  to  what  we  have. 
Hence  one's  self-love  may  be  appealed  to,  and  often 
is,  as  a  motive  to  obey  and  follow  the  right. 

This,  however,  does  not  at  all  argue  that  "  the  true 
and  the  right "  is  not  to  be  followed  solely  for  the 
sake  of  itself — in  accord  with  the  true  nature  be- 
stowed upon  man  at  his  creation.  It  only  argues 
that  self-love  or  some  visible  good  is  a  proper 
incentive  to  help  the  soul  in  its  warfare  against  the 
hindrances  that  tend  to  divert  it  from  a  straight- 
forward course  in  its  love  of  the  right. 

That  self-love  is  entirely  distinct  from  selfishness 
is  also  apparent  from  the  scope  of  the  second  great 
commandment — "  love  your  neighbor  as  yourself" — 
which  would  have  no  value  nor  virtue  in  it,  were 
self-love  commensurate  with  selfishness. 


so  MORAL^AXD  REI.KilOUS  SCIENCE. 

27.  Love  to  the  Neighbor. — This  love  is 
grounded  in  moral  love.  Were  our  neighbor  entirely 
loveable,  we  would  love  him  necessarily,  just  as  we 
love  the  true,  the  right,  the  good.  It  is  a  moral 
necessity,  and  so  is  without  the  element  of  virtue. 

If,  however,  our  neighbor  is  not  loveable — has 
characteristics  disagreeable  and  averse  to  true  love — 
and  we  yet  love  him,  this  love  is  a  virtue,  and  exists, 
not  in  the  plane  of  self-love,  but  is  contra  to  it. 

To  love  our  unloveable  neighbor  is  an  abnegation 
of  self.  We  sacrifice  our  natural  feeling  of  love  for 
the  beautiful,  the  pure;  our  sympathy  for  what  is 
like  ourselves — for  what  we  ha\-e  experienced  in  our 
soul's  associations  ;  we  sacrifice  these  for  the  sake  of 
the  good,  not  of  ourselves,  but  of  our  neighbor. 

Good  may  result  to  ourselves  from  this  self- 
sacrifice,  but  if  we  do  good  to  our  neighbor  merely 
for  sake  of  the  good  resulting  to  ourselves,  there  is 
no  self-sacrifice  nor  virtue  in  it.  It  then  becomes  a 
matter  of  self-love. 

The  scope  of  the  second  great  commandment  is  in 
this:  We  love  our  neighbor  as  ourselves,  when  we 
love  him  as  we  love  ourselves  perforce  of  our  self- 
love,  and  when  we,  with  the  same  instinctive  readiness, 
minister  to  him  in  all  things  necessary  to  maintain 
in  him  life  and  its  proper  possessions.  We  are  to 
have  the  same  regard  for  his  rights  and  welfare  as 
for  our  own.  We  must  not  minister  to  ourselves  at 
his  expense,  but  may  minister  to  him  at  our  expense. 

28.  The  Ground  oe  Duty.— It  is  the  ground  of 
what  ought  to  be.     Anyone  can  say  what  a  duty  is, 


THE  (ih'orxn  or  Drrr.  si 

can  give  a  dictionary  definition  similar  to  Webster's, 
as  a  something  which  we  ought  to  do  or  not  to  do  ;  but 
now  what  we  seek  is  the  ground  of  this  idea  of  duty. 

Some  say  that  the  sense  of  duty  is  a  natural  inborn 
feeling  elementary  in  the  soul,  and  hence  as  a  simple 
element  cannot  be  further  elucidated,  or  defined  as 
to  its  essential  nature. 

This  is  true  of  the  naked  abstract  idea  of  duty, 
but  when  we  say  ground  of  duty,  we  mean  to  inquire 
what  moral  element  in  human  nature  gives  rise  to 
the  abstract  idea  of  duty.  In  Philippians  2  :  3  we  read, 
"  Let  each  esteem  other  better  than  themselves," 
and  it  would  be  difTficult  to  find  in  words  a  fitter  ex- 
pression for  the  ground  of  duty.  It  is  in  a  feeling 
of  self-abnegation  for  sake  of  all  dear  to  us. 

When  Lord  Nelson  at  the  battle  of  Trafalgar  cries 
out  to  his  men,  "  England  expects  that  every  man 
this  day  \v\\\  do  his  duty,"  there  was  a  reminder  and 
an  appeal  to  that  sense  of  loyalty  to  their  country 
by  which  every  true  Englishman  valued  his  native 
land,  her  institutions  and  his  kindred,  friends,  coun- 
trymen, and  the  government  he  lived  under,  more 
than  he  did  himself — more  than  his  own  life  even. 

It  is  this  feeling  of  the  soul,  this  affinity  for  other 
souls,  that  underlies  the  notion  of  duty^is  its  ground- 
principle. 

Lord  Nelson's  men  responded  to  the  call  manfully, 
not  because  of  obligation  on  account  of  their  stipend 
of  forty  shillings  per  month  ;  not  because  the  laws  of 
England  protected  them  in  their  rights ;  not  because 
of  love  for  kin  or  for  friend  or  loved  one  they  had 
left  at  home,  however  strong   the    feeling.      These 

6 


S2  MORAL  AXD  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

considerations  inicjht,  any  or  all  of  thcni,  if  called  to 
mind,  be  proper  incentives  to  duty;  but  they  are 
not  the  ground  of  duty.  That  lies  deeper.  It  is  an 
inborn  feeling  of  affinit}'  that  a  man  has  for  whatever 
is  hke  himself,  and  which  he  thus  necessarily  regards 
as  a  part  of  his  own  being.  It  is  natural  and  in- 
stinctive as  the  desire  of  self-preservation,  which 
leads  to  prompt  action  without  stopping  to  inquire 
into  the  reasons  for  it. 

There  is  an  affinity  or  attraction  in  dead  matter 
called  gravity,  by  which  each  body  of  matter,  large 
or  small,  tends  towards  all  other  bodies.  W'c  do  not 
know  what  this  force  is,  except  by  its  efTects.  W'c 
know  not  the  zchy  nor  the  Jitni\  except  that  it  is  a 
principle  in  matter,  that  the  Creator  has  jnit  tliere 
of  his  own  will  and  wisdom. 

Just  so  the  principle  of  dut}'  has  been  implanted 
by  the  Creator  in  the  nature  of  man,  each  to  act 
for  the  good  of  all  others  conditioned  like  himself. 
This  feeling  of  duty  has  its  source  inherent  within 
the  soul — is  a  pi'iorim  character;  and  is  not  to  be 
debased  by  being  grounded  in  the  a  posteriori — in 
external  conditions  and  considerations.  These  ha\e 
their  value :  they  are  motives  to  dut}-,  but  are  not 
the  primary  law  of  duty. 

The  ground  of  duty  is,  then,  in  the  attitude  of  the 
soul  towards  kindred  souls — in  the  elementary  prin- 
ciple involved  when  we  esteem  others — when  we 
gladly  become  servant  to  all,  lik'e  the  Master,  who 
"took  upon  hiins(.]f  the  form  of  a  servant"  -hence 
not  in  any  servile  sense,  but  in  the  sense  of  a  native 
desire  to  do  good. 


GROUND  OF  RIGHT.  83 

The  idea  of  duty  involves  feeling  more  than  in- 
tellect. Nelson's  men  could  not  have  done  their  duty 
had  they  gone  into  action  with  the  precision  indeed, 
but  yet  with  the  coldness  of  a  morning  parade. 

In  general,  the  idea  of  duty  antedates  and  domi- 
nates  that  of  the  right,  as  it  did  with  Lord  Nelson's 
men  ;  but  not  always,  for  as  to  the  moral  precept  of 
Jesus,  "  Love  your  enemies,"  it  may  be  that  we 
must  find  reasons  for  it,  must  argue  ourselves  into 
the  truth  of  it,  before  we  see  the  duty  in  it. 

And  so  it  is  as  to  the  commandment,  "  Love  God." 
If  we  know  that  Jehovah  says  this,  we  know  that  it 
is  right  and  duty  to  obey ;  but  we  cannot  obey  this 
commandment  till  our  reason  and  judgment  and 
moral  feeling — the  entire  consciousness — or  else  the 
Spirit's  power,  convinces  us  that  God  is  a  being  alto- 
gether loveable. 

Had  this  point  been  well  considered,  some  dis- 
tinguished waiters'  on  morals  would  not  have  mis- 
taken the  ultimate  end  of  man  for  the  underlying 
principle  in  a  science  of  morals,  for  to  do  so  starts  the 
seeker  after  moral  truth  on  his  voyage  without  rud- 
der or  compass.  He  must  do  his  duty  by  obedience 
to  God,  prior  to  love — before  he  can  love — and 
exactly  this  is  the  philosophy  of  Jesus:  "  If  any  man 
will  do  his  will,  he  shall  know  of  the  doctrine." 
(John  7:  17.) 

29.  Ground  of  Right. — The  primary  ground  is 
in  the  Divine  constitution.  It  is  in  ivhat  is  in  the 
eternal  existence — in  the  "  I  am." 

Some    philosophers — Dr.    Haven,   for    instance — 


84  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

argue  that  it  is  in  the  nature  of  things,  and  would 
exist  even  were  there  no  God  ;  or  that  it  is  eternal  and 
coexistent  with  the  existence  of  the  Creator. 

But  in  this  attempt  to  set  up  and  exhibit  a  ground 
of  right  outside  the  Divine  constitution  we  ab- 
stract the  Divine  constitution,  or  the  eternal  Creator, 
prior  to  whom  there  could  be  nothing,  and  without 
whom  nothing  exists  ;  hence  we  abstract  all — all 
ideas,  all  notions,  moral  or  intellectual.  The  consti- 
tution of  God  must  have  preceded  all  nature,  and 
hence  all  that  is  true  and  right  in  nature  and  in  her 
relations.  Hence  the  right  and  the  true  must  be 
grounded  in  the  constitution  of  God,  which  changes 
not :  "  Thou  art  the  same  to-day,  yesterday  and  for- 
ever." 

This  docs  not  argue  a  lack  of  moral  freedom  in 
the  Divine  constitution.  We  are  free  when  we  act 
in  accord  with  our  constitution,  yet  can  act  contra 
to  it. 

Our  conception  (idea)  of  God  is  of  a  Being  that 
has  power  to  act  contra  to  his  constitution,  but  who 
will  not,  for  his  will  is  holy. 

The  idea  of  right  as  having  an  eternal  existence 
unchangeable  is  correct ;  but  it  is  also  a  necessary 
idea  that  this  eternal  existence  of  the  right  has 
eternally  dwelt  in  the  Divine  constitution,  and  neces- 
sarily belongs  to  it. 

It  might  seem  that  this  question  and  this  distinc- 
tion is  not  important,  for  Dr.  Haven  admits  "  that 
the  will  of  God  must  be  regarded  as  the  rule  of  right 
and  the  standard  of  duty  to  man  ;  that  will  itself 
reposes  upon  the  right  and  is  conformed  to   it,  and 


GROUND  OF  RIGHT.  85 

while  it  is  not  the  source  and  ground  of  right,  it  is 
nevertheless  the  source  of  our  knowledge  of  right — 
the  rule  of  duty  to  us." 

But  the  value  of  a  true  doctrine  in  this  regard 
lies  here,  namely,  that  if  we  set  up  a  ground  of 
right  independent  of  the  constitution  of  God,  we 
have  two  Gods,  a  personal  one  in  God  the  Creator,  and 
an  impersonal  one  in  an  absolute  principle  of  right, 
which  is  not  an  ideal,' but  is  an  eternal  principle  that 
should  be  obeyed,  even  though  in  so  doing  we  might 
disobey  God,  the  Omnipotent,  and  we  thus  reopen 
the  question  w^hether  our  God — the  Creator — is 
altogether  the  good  God,  and  whether  he  might  not, 
and  at  some  time  may,  disregard  this  impersonal  in- 
dependent principle  of  the  right. 

That  the  ground  of  right  is  in  the  constitution  of 
God  is  further  evident  from  the  necessary  conditions 
of  a  sufificient  reason.* 

1.  Truth  and  right  arc  ultimate  ideas.  They  must 
have  their  source  in  the  primal  elementary  fount  of 
existence,  else  streams  of  life  flowing  therefrom  will 
not  be  permeated  with  pure  life-imparting  elements.. 
This  primal  source  can  be  no  other  than  that  eternal 
uncreate  existence  from  which  all  created  existence 
originates. 

2.  We  recognize  the  true  ground  of  right  when  we 
see  in  it  the  source  of  the  highest  incentive  to  dut\'. 

By  reference  to  section  2,  we  see  that  in  the  stand- 
ard s}-stems  of  Greek  philosophy,  honesty  is  to  be 
sought  y(^;-  itself  alone,  and  not  from  any  advantage 
to  him  who  cultiwates  it;  and  this  seeking  for  itself 
al->nc    is  because   of    the   beaut}-   and   excellence  of 


86  MORAL  AXD  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

virtue,  if  it  be  possible,  as  Plato  says,  to  behold  this 
beauty  with  mortal  eyes.  They,  the  ancients, 
sou<^ht  this  in  an  ideal  perfection  of  humanity,  and 
this  is  a  legitimate  pursuit ;  but  whence  this  ideal 
except  from  the  Creator  of  humanity,  who  is  the 
reality  and  completeness  of  all  that  is  true  and  righj:? 
A  true  ground  of  right  leads  to  a  true  concept  of 
God,  and  to  that  of  holiness. 

30.  The  Secondary  Ground  of  Right. — The 
secondary  ground  of  right  is  in  Man's  nature  as  in 
the  Divine  image.  As  we  have  seen,  the  idea  or 
the  notion  of  the  right  is  an  essential  principle  of 
the  Divine  constitution — must  be  therein  or  no- 
Vv'here. 

Hence,  if  man  was  created  in  the  Divine  image,  he 
of  right  has  this  same  principle  in  his  own  constitu- 
tion. To  act  right,  then,  is  to  act  in  accord  ^\ith  the 
requirements  of  the  moral  constitution. 

The  imperative  ground  of  right  is  in  aittliority  — 
authority  emanating  direct  from  God — his  acknowl- 
edged laws,  or  else  the  law  of  the  "still  small  voice." 
This  law  requires  truth  to  nature,  hence  in  morals 
the  true  and  the  right  are  equivalents.  Whatever  is 
true,  morally  true,  is  morally  right. 

We  may  hardly  know  the  primary  ground  of  right, 
namely,  the  constitution  of  God,  or  even  our  own 
nature.  These  require  much  study  and  reflection, 
and  can  never  be  full}-  known  and  apprehended  ;  but 
there  is  a  certain  authority  in  man's  moral  nature, 
called  the  authorit\-  or  the  \oice  of  tlie  conscience, 
and  a  sure  authority  in  God's  voice  or   re\'ealed  will, 


PRIXCIPLE:  PRACTICE.  S7 

which    is   an    evident,    immediate    and    imperative 
ground  of  right. 

31.  Principle:  Practice. — Every  science  has 
its  own  principle,  which,  however,  cannot  always  be 
readily  applied  to  particular  cases  as  they  occur. 

Thus,  in  keeping  accounts,  we  have  the  general 
law  or  principle  that  what  is  received  is  debit  to 
what  is  given.  This  proposition  is  self-evident,  yet 
its  correct  application  in  every  transaction  that  occurs 
may  not  be  so  plain.  In  the  gcnieral  run  of  business, 
it  requires  experience  and  practice  to  determine  in- 
stantly the  proper  journal  entry,  which,  in  each  case, 
shall  be  in  accord  with  this  principle. 

So,  in  the  science  of  gunnery,  the  motion  of  the 
projectile  is  in  accord  with  laws  which  can  be  formu- 
lated. In  the  art  and  practice  of  gunnery,  not  only 
the  law  or  the  leading  principles  must  be  understood, 
but  there  must  be  facility  in  theirapplication  to  meet 
varying  circumstances. 

Just  so  is  it  in  morals:  a  knowledge  of  principles 
without  a  trained  and  experienced  judgment  in  the 
use  of  them,  will  not  enable  a  man  to  give  a  ready 
and  a  correct  reply  to  the  moral  cjuestions  with 
which,  in  the  affairs  of  a  busy  life,  and  under  \-ary- 
ing  circumstances,  he  is  daily  confronted  ;  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  without  a  knowledge  (i  principles, 
his  moral  acts  will  have  a  mere  empiric  character, 
and  can  never  assure  of  certainty  as  to  the  right. 
This  condition  gives  rise  to  an  uneven,  one-sitlcd 
character,  in  which  fai:-  \irtue  is  disfigured  b_\-  full)- 
and  \  ice. 


88  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

Thus,  religious  zeal  for  a  formal  worship,  unbal- 
anced by  a  true  principle  and  spirit  of  religious  lib- 
erty, gave  rise  to  contentions  and  persecutions  be- 
tween Jew  and  Gentile ;  between  Catholic  and 
Protestant ;  and  in  the  established  church  in  Eng- 
land and  in  Germany  between  Conformists  and  recu- 
sants ;  and  nearer  home,  to  that  inconsistency  and 
narrowness  of  spiritual  insight  which  characterized 
the  Puritans  of  Massachusetts  when  they  expelled 
from  their  midst  that  man  Rodger  Williams,  who, 
like  Paul,  was  the  personification  of  soul-liberty,  and 
was  the  true  exponent  of  that  priceless  "  freedom  to 
worship  God,"  for  the  sake  of  which  the  Puritans 
themselves  and  the  Pilgrims  had  braved  all  dangers 
and  hardships  in  crossing  the  tempestuous  ocean,  land- 
ing upon  icy,  rock-bound  coasts,  and  in  effecting  set- 
tlements in  the  wilderness  of  New  England. 

This  principle  of  conscience-liberty,  soul-liberty, 
religious  liberty,  cherished  by  the  little  band  of  May- 
flower Pilgrims,  was,  v\ugust  1st,  1 889,  commemo- 
rated and  emphasized  by  the  dedication  at  Plymouth 
of  a  colossal  h^iith  monument  or  Pilgrim  statue ;'' 
and  this  monument  is  not  local  merel)',  but  it  is  na- 
tional in  character,  for  it  stands  for  that  principle  of 
religious  liberty  that  enters  into  the  laws  and  the  in- 
stitutions of  the  American  people. 

32.  Pivo'j'  TiH)L:(iiirs  i\  Till-:  Principles. — 
I.  Some  duties  are  self-evident,  and  our  obedience  to 
these  helps  us  to  discover  those  that  are  disclosed 
through  moral  law  certified  to  b\-  the  judgments  of 
our  intellectual,  moral  and  religicnis  nature  acting  in 


PIVOT  THOUGHTS  IN  PRINCIPLES.  SO 

harmony,  and  so  producing  what  is  called  an  en- 
lightened consciousness,  which,  being  subject  to  the 
imperfection  and  bias  of  human  nature,  gi\'es  at 
best  only  an  incomplete  ideal,  and  so  affords  ground 
for  a  necessary  intervention  of  Divine  instruction 
through  laws  written  or  uttered,  and  through  the 
teaching  and  power  of  the  Spirit. 

2.  All  considerations  as  to  duty  and  the  ground  of 
duty  lead  to  the  underlying  idea  of  right,  as  that  upon 
which  the  idea  of  duty  is-  necessarily  imposed  ;  and 
that  this  idea  of  right  must  have  its  foundation  in 
the  constitution  of  that  Supreme  Being  who  is  in 
himself  the  archetype  of  ever}-  true  idea  and  exist- 
ence ;  whatever  is  false  having  been  wrought  out  by 
the  vain  imagination  and  disobedience  of  the  crea- 
ture. 

3.  That  a  just  conception  of  Him— the  ground  of 
right— as  of  the  Holy  One,  who  is  of  "purer  eyes 
than  to  behold  evil,  and  canst  not  look  on  iniquity" 
(Habakkuk  i:  13),  is  essential  to  insure  in  man  a  just 
idea  of  right  and  duty  in  all  moral  relations. 

4.  That  the  ground  of  right,  the  ground  of  duty, 
the  function  of  conscience,  the  chief-good,  the  ulti- 
mate-good, are  all  and  severally  distinct  ideas,  not 
to  be  confused,  as  sometimes  happens,  in  philosophic 
investigations. 

5.  Though  the  ordinary  desires  and  affections  ex- 
cite intellect  and  will  to  action,  the  moral  element  in 
this  excitation  is  furnished  solely  by  the  presence  of 
the  moral  nature  acting  through  its  faculties  as  a 
moral-sense  giving  out  moral  sensations,  analogous 
to  sensations  from' the  outer  world,  finding  access  to 


DO  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

the  intellect  and  exciting  to  cognition  and  thought, 
a  condition  not  possible  were  there  no  outer  world 
nature.  So  nothing  is  possible  in  moral  cognition 
without  the  inner  world  of  the  moral  nature.  Intel- 
lect and  will  sympathize  w  ith  the  moral  nature,  but 
do  not  originate  it. 

33.  Exposition  of  the  Mktaphysics  of 
Morals. — This  could  be  found  in  the  preceding 
exposition  of  principles,  but  it  is  desirable  to  show 
distinctly  what  is  meant  by  metaplnsics  of  morals, 
and  to  give  a  summary  view. 

If  we  look  for  definitions  in  the  dictionaries  we 
find  metaphysics  to  mean,  after  or  be)(^nd  pln-sics, 
from  victa,  beyond  or  after,  'ax\^  pliusis,  nature. 

It  is  said  that  the  name  metaphysics  was  given  by 
Aristotle  to  some  of  his  writings  which  he  could  not 
class  with  his  physics,  name!}-,  with  his  writings 
upon  the  science  of  nature — this  term  science  of  na- 
ture, in  Ancient  philosoph\-,  being  limited  to  the  de- 
termination of  the  elements  and  laws  of  the  material 
universe,  including  man's  physical  nature,  but  not 
extended  to  include  the  intellectual  and  the  moral 
nature  of  man — so  that  these  subjects  of  inquiry 
came  under  the  head  or  classification  by  Aristotle  of 
metaj)hysics,  and  ha\e  since  retained  that  nomencla- 
ture, which  even  though  given  in  the  first  instance 
much  by  accident,  is  a  happy  accident,  for  the  word 
is  quite  appropriate,  as  the  intellectual  and  the  moral 
are  cjuite  distinct  from  the  material  or  corporeal  in 
man,  as  well  as  from  those  desires  that  have  their 
seat   in  the  lower  affections  of  tlte  soul. 


METAPHVSICS  OF  MORALS.  91 

After  this  general  explanation  of  the  meaning  of 
metaphysics,  let  us  consider  what  is  meant  by  the 
metaphysics  of  morals.  This  is  best  done  by  taking 
an  example  to  illustrate. 

Achan  co\'eted  a  wedge  of  gold,  stole  it  and  bur- 
ied it  in  the  earth  in  his  tent.  Now,  in  this  transac- 
tion, which  faculties  of  the  soul  were  brought  into 
action  ? 

I.  There  was  the  desire  to  possess,  to  acquire 
something.  This  desire,  \\\\cn  directed  to  a  proper 
object,  is  a  good  propensity  of  the  soul.  It  is  to  be 
regulated,  not  discouraged  nor  expelled  from  the 
soul's  constitution.  It  acts,  and  should  act,  when  not 
restrained  for  cause.  The  desire,  then,  for  gold,  or 
for  aught  else,  is  not  chargeable  with  wrong,  if  an)% 
in  a  natural  desire. 

The  second  faculty  of  the  soul  concerned  in  this 
transaction  was  the  will  of  Achan. 

Desire  says,  I  want  it ;  Will  says,  take  it.  This 
determination  of  the  will  may  have  been  instantane- 
ous under  'the  pressure  of  strong  desire,  and  with 
little  opposition  on  the  part  of  other  faculties  ;  or  it 
may  have  been  after  deliberation.  In  either  case  the 
will  is  the  executive  of  thi.;  soul's  desires  and  deter- 
minations. 

The  act,  even  though  done  on  the  spur  of  the  mo- 
ment, must  have  been  briefly  debated,  as  to  its  i)ro- 
pricty,  and  then  approved  or  condemned.  This 
brings  into  view  those  faculties  of  the  soul  whose 
function  it  is  to  sit  in  judgment  as  to  the  quality  of 
this  act  of  Achan  in  taking  the  gold.  The  moral 
sensibilit)-  of  Achan's  soul  lifts  up  its  voice  and  says, 


92  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

Achan,  \-ou  should  love  the  v\g\\\.  and  do  what  is 
right.  The  reasoning  faculties  of  Achan  say,  this 
wedge  of  gold,  Achan,  is  not  yours;  you  know  you 
have  no  right  to  it. 

Conscience,  the  consensus  of  the  united  voices  of 
the  moral  faculties,  is  now  aroused ;  yet  desire  is 
strong,  the  will  is  bad,  and  the  bad  deed  is  done. 

But  Achan  is  seized  with  fear  and  remorse  and 
confesses  his  guilt  and  meets  his  fate.  Now,  the 
higher  faculties  that  are  here  introduced  into  this 
scene,  as  actors,  are  the  will,  as  having  an  independ- 
ent action  ;  the  moral  emotion  or  sensibility  which  is 
constituted  to  love  the  right — what  is  true  and  right ; 
and  the  intellect  which  is  able  to  perceive  and  state 
the  conditions  or  circumstances  which  should  deter- 
mine the  will  to  let  or  not  to  let  the  soul  have  what 
it  desires.  These  three,  the  will  in  its  autonomy,  or 
as  having  freedom  to  do  as  it  pleases  to  do,  right  or 
wrong ;  the  moral  emotion  of  the  soul  as  loving  the 
right;  the  intellect  with  its  idea  of  the  ground  of  right 
and  of  duty,  and  its  intuitive  and  logical  judgments  as 
to  what  is  right,  all  belong  to  the  higher  nature  of 
man,  as  a  spirit,  and  not  to  his  lower  corporeal,  phy- 
sical nature,  like  those  appetites,  affections  and  de- 
sires that  are  intended  to  minister  to  the  wants  of 
the  body;  these  are  physical,  but  those  are  spiritual, 
and  so  metaphysical. 

Hence,  the  metaphysics  of  morals  is  that  part  of 
moral  science  which  determines  its  higher  elements 
and  laws.  These  elements  are  said  to  be  a  priori  in 
character,  because  they  are  ultimate  principles,  inde- 
pendent,   cannot    be    referred   to    anj-thing   higher, 


METAI'J/rs/CS  or  MORALS.  03 

though  the  moral  clement  has  the  pre-eminence,  be- 
cause the  will,  though  at  liberty  to  elo  as  it  pleases, 
should  please  to  tlo  right  in  accord  w  ith  the  moral  ; 
and,  too,  the  intellect  should  subordinate  its  think- 
ing to  this  dictum  of  the  moral — the  ought. 

All  three,  when  acting  together,  rightly  make  a 
moral-imperative — a  categorical-imperative,  so  far  as 
relates  to  the  formal  law  of  duty,  right  for  sake  of 
the  right,  and  so  far  as  particular  duties  are  intui- 
tively discerned. 

From  this  it  appears  that  the  will  is  a  prime  factor 
or  element  in  the  metaphysics  of  morals  ;  for  how- 
ever wise  the  moral  reason  may  be,  it  is  destitute  of 
authority  without  concurrence  of  the  will,  which 
concurrence  it  will  have  provided  there  is  a  good 
will.  Hence,  the  attainment  of  a  good  will  is  the 
highest  end  of  moral  instruction  and  discipline. 
When  this  chief-good  is  reached,  is  possessed,  we 
readily  gain  possession  of  the  minor  joys  of  life, 
such  as  the  pleasures  of  the  imagination,  of  aes- 
thetic and  intellectual  pursuits,  of  society,  of  friend- 
ship, and,  in  general,  those  that  arise  from  a  faithful 
discharge  of  the  common  duties  of  life,  including 
the  practice  of  the  virtues,  and  above  all  those  en- 
joyed in  the  possession  and  cultivation  of  a  true  re- 
ligious sentiment  and  faith ;  but  without  the  good- 
will, no  other  good  thing,  however  good  in  itself,  can 
have  for  us  any  value. 

An  absolutely  good  will  may  not  be  attainable  in 
this  life  ;  but  a  comparatively  good  will  can  be  at- 
tained to. 

Suppose  we   have  this,   and  that  the   elements  in 


ni  MORAL  AAJi  I:F.L/(,/0('S  S(  iexce. 

the  metaphysics  of  morals  arc  working  in  harmony, 
what  can  they accompHsh  ?  This  is  the  one  question 
wise  men  ask.  Some  philosophers  think  nothing 
can  be  done,  for  the  reason  that  these  elements  do 
not  appear  to  them  to  have  any  materials  to  work 
upon — any  object  in  sight  ;  and  so  not  perceiving 
an)'  use  for  these  metaphysical  elements,  they  doubt 
their  very  existence.  Other  philosophers  think 
these  elements  have  a  virtue  in  them  able  to  accom- 
plish all  moral  good. 

The  proper  view  is  that  these  a  priori  elements 
are  essential  to  the  accomplishment  of  anything 
at  all;  that  they  do  accomplish  much  by  direct 
action,  and  indirectly  all ;  namely,  that  what  is 
done  by  the  a  posteriori  or  the  empirical  elements 
is  auxiliary. 

In  the  direct  action  of  the  rt/'rz^rz  elements  there 
are  intuitions  of  duty  which  do  not  require  experi' 
ence  for  their  verification  ;  and  there  is  the  forceful 
determination  to  good  acts  of  an  organization  of 
faculties  designed  to  point  out  to  the  soul  of  man, 
and  to  every  intelligent  moral  creature,  the  general 
princi|)le  of  the  morally  true  and  right ;  and  by  this 
concurrence  of  the  faculties  to  give  an  impulse,  im- 
petus, to  each  faculty  that  has  a  part  to  act  in  effect- 
ing a  right  conduct  of  life. 

Experience  has  much  to  do,  and  often  it  requires 
bitter  experiences  when  the  a  priori  faculties  are  at 
fault,  and  do  not  act  well  their  part ;  when  the  will 
is  not  good  or  the  intellect  is  obtuse;  when  the 
love  of  the  moral  nature,  which  naturally  loves  the 
right,    is    perverted    and    deadened    by    abnormal 


METAPFirSICS  OF  MUA'ALS.  95 

causes — by  s-in  and  transgression — when  "  the  whole 
head  is  sick  and  the  whole  heart  is  faint." 

In  such  cases,  experience,  and  terrible  experiences, 
providentially  come  to  the  aid  of  the  inner  man — to 
scarify  and  blister  the  diseased  soul  into  a  condition 
of  healthy  action. 

Here,  then,  w-e  have  the  metaphysics  and  the  em- 
piric of  the  soul;  and  this  is  about  the  sum  of  it: 
they  are  not  opposing  doctrines  and  forces ;  each 
has  its  own  sphere,  and  there  need  be  no  conten- 
tion. 

The  certainty  of  moral  law  is  known  only  by  the 
a  priori  elements  or  sources  of  moral  cognition,  the 
voice  of  the  moral  nature  in  favor  of  the  right,  the 
intuitions  of  the  intellect  determining  the  right,  and 
the  power  of  the  conscience  to  give  pleasure  or 
pain  give  us  a  logical  judgment  upon  the  doctrine 
of  good  or  ill  desert.  Whereas,  if  experience  be 
our  only  guide,  or  our  primal  one,  we  are  left  in 
doubt  as  to  the  Divine  intention  in  regard  to  man's 
final  state.  The  observation  or  experience  of  the 
psalmist,  in  Psalms  13,  his  painful  doubt  as  to  God's 
moral  government  when  he  "saw  the  prosperity  of 
the  wicked,"  is  evidence  that  the  empiric  character 
often  misleads. 


PART  SECOND. 


division  i.   ethics. 

34.  Ethics,  the  Practical;  Its  Source  in 
Principles. — We  have  considered  the  moral  and 
reHgious  nature  of  man  endowed  with  active  facul- 
ties, as  embodying  elements  and  principles  upon 
which,  when  rightly  exhibited,  to  base  a  science  of 
ethics ;  namely,  of  moral  laws,  rules  and  precepts 
to  guide  us  in  the  discharge  of  duty,  and  in  the 
maintenance  of  rights. 

The  study'and  exposition  of  principles  implies  a 
philosophy  thereof;  and  ethics,  as  the  enunciation  of 
moral  law,  implies  a  knowledge  of  principles. 

Ethics,'  or  Practical  Morality,  is  then  derived  from 
principles.  The  source  of  ethics  can  be  referred  to 
the  source  of  its  principles  which  lie  in  the  secondary 
ground  of  right,  namely,  in  man's  moral  nature, 
elucidated  by  a  just  idea  of  the  primal  ground  of 
right,  the  constitution  of  Jehovah,''  and  enforced  by 
the  authoritative  ground  of  right,  God's  will,  as  in- 
terpreted by  revelation  thereof  direct,  and  indirectly 
through  the  judgments  of  the  enlightened  intel- 
lectual, moral,  religious  consciousness. 

Ethics  is  the  application  of  principles  in  the 
practice  of  virtue.  Scripture  ethics  is  not  merely 
a  didactic  statement  of  what  ought  to  be,  but  is 
■7  97 


08  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

also  a  positive  authoritative  announcement  of  what 
ought  not  to  be. 

The  first  part — the  ought  to  be — consists  of  uni- 
versal principles  and  precepts  applicable  to  all  time. 

The  second  part — the  ought  not — is  animadversion 
and  denunciation  of  the  prevailing  errors  and  vices 
of  the  times,  and  served  not  only  for  the  then  pres- 
ent, but,  by  way  of  example,  it  serves  for  any  and 
all  transgressions  and  immoralities  and  sins  in  all 
times. 

The  moral  law  as  a  formal  ethic  utterance,  in  its 
essential  elements  and  fundamental  requirements,  is 
exhibited  in  the  Ten  Commandments,  and  is  further 
summarized  in  the  two  great  commandments. 

In  the  decalogue  and  in  the  summary  thereof  our 
relations  to  God  hold  the  first  place,  are  first  con- 
sidered and  enunciated.  The  first  commandment 
announces  the  authority  that  lies  at  the  base  of  the 
decalogue,    "  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God." 

This  authority  is  self-evident.  The  sovereignty  of 
the  Lord  God,  the  Supreme  Ruler,  no  man  can 
question  ;  and  he  reminds  the  unstable  people  of 
their  special  obligation  to  him  in  bringing  them  out 
of  Egypt,  the  house  of  bondage,  and  of  the  great 
display  therein  of  his  might  and  power,  by  way  of 
enforcing  their  obligation  to  heed  now  his  authority 
and  commandments,  and  primarily  and  specially  to 
give  heed  to  this  first  commandment,  "  Thou  shalt 
have  no  other  gods  before  me." 

The  second  commandment  forbids  the  worship 
of  the  invisible  God  through  the  representation  of 
the  Godhead  by  means  of  idols,  or  images  (bi  any 


STN/XdEyr  LAWS:  XECHSSITr  OF.  00 

sort,  for  ill  reference  to  a  true  zuorship  Jesus  teaches 
thus: 

"But  the  liour  cometh,  and  now  is,  when  the  wor- 
shipers shall  worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  in 
truth;  for  the  Father  sceketh  such  to  worship  him. 

"God  is  a  spirit,  and  they  that  worship  him  must 
worship  in  spirit  and  in  truth."    (John  4:  23,  24.) 

Hence  it  is  evident  that  the  true  worship  of  God 
is  tlie  worship)  of  a  personal  God  by  the  consecrated 
feeHngs  of  his  intelHgent  moral  creatures. 

This  commandment,  not  to  bow  down  to  nor  serve 
other  gods,  the  Lord  emphasizes  by  the  declaration 
that  he  is  a  jealous  God,  "  visiting  the  iniquity  of  the 
fathers  upon  the  children  unto  the  third  and  fourth 
generation  of  them  that  hate  me" — "showing  mercy 
unto  thousands  of  them  that  love  me,  and  keep  my 
commandments." 

Everyone  from  self-examination  will  see  that  diso- 
bedience tends  to  alienation  and  separation  between 
himself  and  the  Lord;  and  that  a  cheerful  obedience 
tends  to  union  and  love,  peace  and  joy. 

35.  Stringent  Laws  and  Necessity  There- 
for.— With  reference  to  the  Canaanites  and  other 
heathen  peoples,  it  is  said : 

"  Thou  shalt  not  bow  down  to  their  gods,  nor 
serve  theni,  nor  do  after  their  works  ;  but  thou  shalt 
utterly  overthrow  them,  and  quite  break  down  their 
images."    (Exodus  23:   24.) 

"  Thou  shalt  make  no  covenant  with  them,  nor 
with  their  gotls.  Thc\-  shall  not  dwell  in  thy  land, 
lest  they  make  thee  sin  against  me  ;  for  if  thou  serve 


lUU         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

their  gods,  it  will  surely  be  a  snare  unto  thee."  (Exo- 
dus 23:  32,  11:) 

"Cursed  be  the  man  that  maketh  any  graven  or 
molten  image,  an  abomination  unto  the  Lord,  the 
work  of  the  hands  of  the  craftsman,  and  putteth  it 
in  a  secret  place  :  and  all  the  people  shall  answer 
and  say.  Amen."    (Deuteronomy  27  :  15.) 

These  laws  and  regulations,  and  others  of  like 
sort,  are  often  objected  to  by  kind-hearted  people 
on  account  of  their  severity  ;  but  they  will  be  re- 
garded as  proof  of  God's  good  will  when  it  is  con- 
sidered that  no  code  of  laws  except  a  very  stringent 
one  would  be  effective  in  securing  stubborn  Israel 
from  affiliation  with  the  idolatrous  peoples  around 
them,  and  so  thwarting  the  intention  of  God  to 
make  himself  known  as  the  One  True  God,  loving 
righteousness  and  hating  iniquity. 

In  the  knowledge  of  which  ground-principle  in 
the  constitution  of  the  Creator,  rests  the  well-being 
and  the  happiness  of  mankind. 

The  third  commandment,  which  forbids  taking 
the  name  of  the  Lord  in  vain,  is  violated  when 
God's  name — any  of  his  holy  names — are  made  use 
of  lightly  to  express  vexation  with  oneself,  or  im- 
precation of  another. 

Specially  is  his  name  taken  in  vain  when  we  make 
a  false  statement  under  the  sanctions  of  his  name, 
swear  falsely  under  oath,  or  make  promises  under 
like  sanction. 

A  more  extended  notice  of  this  subject  will  be 
found  under  the  head  "  Veracity." 

The  fourth    and    fifth  are  considered   under   the 


THE  BEATITUDES.  101 

heads  "  Sabbath"  and  "  FiHal  Duty,"  and  most  of  the 
other  commandments  come  under  special  heads. 

This  brief  view  has  been  given  of  the  first  three 
commandments  relating  specially  to  the  great  Law- 
giver, because  therein  is  valid  testimony  and  the 
sufificient  reason  in  confirmation  of  the  logic  of  our 
intellectual  and  moral  consciousness  in  positing  the 
ground  of  right  in  the  constitution  of  God.  "  Love 
with  all  the  heart,  soul  and  strength."  "  Be  ye  holy 
as  I  am  hol\',"  are  the  high  requirements ;  and  the 
student  in  moral  science  and  the  lover  of  moral 
culture  will  do  well  to  lay  it  to  heart  that  these  are 
not  idle  words,  but  point  to  the  \eritable  goal  to  be 
reached. 

36.  The  Beatitudes. — General  View  :  The  Ten 
Commandments  form  a  summary  of  Divine  require- 
ments and  of  duty.  More  specific  or  particular 
duties  come  under  moral  precepts,  sentiments,  vir- 
tues, or  other  suitable  heads. 

The  best  statement  of  moral  precepts  is  to  be 
found  in  the  Beatitudes  ;  in  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount.     (Matthew  5.) 

The  blessedness  of  the  poor  in  spirit,  of  those 
that  mourn,  of  the  meek,  of  those  that  hunger  and 
thirst  after  righteousness,  of  the  merciful,  of  the 
pure  in  heart,  of  the  peace  maker,  of  the  persecuted 
for  righteousness'  sake,  arc  sentiments  in  accord  with 
man's  intellectual  and  moral  constitution,  hence  are 
of  universal  acceptance,  and  are  admired  by  all. 

The  ethic  cJiaractcr  in  the  beatitude  is  to  be  found 
in    the    reasons    given    for  the    blessedness,    in    the 


102  MORAL  A XI)  RELIGIOL'S  SCIEXCE. 

beneficent  results  flowing  from  the  exercise,  from 
the  activity  of  these  kindly  humanizing  qualities, 
these  graces  of  the  soul.  It  is  not  meant,  nor  can 
it  be  implied,  that  this  exercise  and  activity  are  dis- 
played for  the  sake  of  the  reasons  and  the  results  ; 
not  at  all.  The  peculiar  result  that  surely  follows 
each  of  these  blessed  states  is  a  pure  moral  result  ; 
it  tends  to  the  moral  perfection  of  the  soul.  The 
action  is  that  of  cause  and  effect  in  moral  relation. 

The  consideration  of  the  Beatitudes  is,  then, 
strictly  within   the  bounds  of  moral  science. 

The  First  Beatitude  :  "  Blessed  are  the  poor  in 
spirit ;  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

As  to  the  first  beatitude,  as  it  affirms  that  the  poor 
in  spirit  possess  the  kingdom  of  hea\'en,  which  is 
peculiarly  God's  kingdom,  or  a  spiritual  kingdom, 
the  phrase  "  poor  in  spirit "  must  relate  to  one's 
humble  opinion  of  himself — of  his  own  fitness  for 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  for  if  he  had  a  high  opinion 
of  himself,  that  very  circumstance  would  be  a  dis- 
qualifying one.  No  man  can  come  before  God  with 
the  arrogance  of  a  puffcd-up  spirit,  to  claim  as  his 
own  right,  or  on  his  own  merit,  an  entrance  into  the 
kingdom  of  hea\-en.  "  Except  ycuir  righteousness 
shall  exceed  the  righteousness  of  the  Scribes  and 
Pharisees,  ye  shall  in  no  case  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  heaven.     (Matthew  5  :  20.) 

The  Scribes  and  Pharisees  were  very  particular  to 
observe  the  letter  of  the  law,  to  pay  tithes  of  anise 
and  cummin  ;  but  thc\'  neglected  the  spirit  of  the 
law — justice  and  merc\\ 

For  the    character    of  tiie    Pharisee,    we    read: — 


THE  BEAT/TIDES.  W.) 

"Two  men  went  up  into  the  temple  to  pray,  the  one 
a  Pharisee,  the  other  a  pubhcan.  The  Pharisee 
stood  and  pra\-ed  thus  with  himself:  'God,  I  thank 
thee  that  I  am  not  as  other  men  are,  extortioners, 
unjust,  adulterers,  or  even  as  this  publican.  I  fast 
twice  ill  the  week ;  I  give  tithes  of  all  that  I  possess.' 
(Luke  18  :  10-14.)  And  the  publican  standing  afar 
off,  would  not  lift  up  so  much  as  his  eyes  unto 
heaven,  but  smote  upon  his  breast  saying:  'God  be 
merciful  to  me  a  sinner."" 

The  Pharisee  illustrates  the  self-righteous,  proud 
and  haughty  in  spirit;  the  j^iblican,  the  meek. 

The  Second  Beatitude :  "  Blessed  are  they  that 
mourn;  for  they  shall  be  comforted." 

We  mourn  for  loss  of  property  or  of  friends,  but 
this  does  not  restore  them.  This  mourning  may 
have  a  soothing  effect  to  mitigate  tlie  poignancy  of 
grief;  but  blessedness  is  found  only  in  that  mourn- 
ing over  our  departures  from  moral  rectitude  which 
is  accompanied  with  genuine  repentance  for  our 
transgressions,  which  cleanses  the  soul,  and  restores 
it  to  joy  in  God's  presence.  They  that  thus  mourn 
are  comforted  and  blessed  by  an  assurance  of  God's 
returning  favor  and  acceptance ;  that  favor  which 
had  been  lost  to  the  transgressor.  King  David's 
prayer  in  Psalms  51:10,  12,  is:  "Create  in  me  a 
clean  heart,  O  God;  and  renew  a  right  spirit  within 
me.     Restore  unto  me  the  joy  of  thy  sah-ation." 

The  Third  Beatitude:  "Blessed  are  the  meek;  for 
they  shall  inherit  the  earth." 

The  meek  do  not  lack  in  courage  ;  on  the  contrary 
the  meek  man  is  intrepid  and   bra\e,  yet   ne\er  pro- 


104  MORAL  AND  RETTIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

vokes  a  quarrel  ;  is  not  on  the  watch  to  see  if 
somebody  has  insulted  him ;  is  not  over  jealous 
about  his  rights;  is  fitted,  too,  for  leadership  when 
meekness  is  conjoined  with  a  clear  conception  of 
duty.  Thus  Moses  led  out  his  people  from  Egjptian 
bondage,  and  of  this  Moses  it  is  written  :  "  Moses  was 
very  meek  above  all  the  men  which  were  upon  the 
face  of  the  earth."     (Numbers  12:3.) 

The  Fourth  Beatitude:  "Blessed  are  they  which 
do  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness;  for  the}' 
shall  be  filled." 

Its  Definition  :  Righteousness,  as  in  substance 
defined  by  Noah  Webster,  means:  A  quality  or 
state  of  exact  rectitude.  It  comprehends  holy  prin- 
ciples and  affections  of  the  heart,  and  a  conformity 
of  the  life  to  the  Divine  law. 

The  true  principle  of  righteousness  is,  then,  to  be 
found  in  the  love  of  righteousness,  thus:  "Thy  word 
have  I  hid  in  mine  heart,  that  I  might  not  sin  against 
thee."  "  I  will  delight  myself  in  thy  statutes." 
(Psalms,  119:11,  16.) 

The  righteousness  of  the  Pharisees,  however  ex- 
cellent in  their  own  eyes,  was  formal,  precise  and 
superstitious — hence  was  a  false  righteousness,  of 
no  value,  and  of  no  ethic  character.  Jesus  said 
to  them:  "I  will  have  mercy  and  not  sacrifice." 
(Matthew  9:  13.) 

This  is  a  form  of  speech  which  does  not  conilenm 
sacrifice,  but  gives  to  mercy  the  preference.  "  God 
is  no  respecter  of  persons;  but  in  every  nation,  he 
that  feareth  him  and  worketh  righteousness,  is  ac- 
cepted with  him."     (Acts  10:34,  35.) 


THE  BE  A  TI  TUBES.  ^  105 

All  men  by  nature  love  righteousness.  If  any  do 
not,  it  is  because  their  good  nature  has  been  spoiled 
by  not  giving  heed  to  its  constitutional  requirements. 
This  love  of  righteousness  must  not  be  a  mere 
formal,  theoretical,  sentimental,  lukewarm  love — 
such  as  unfortunately  characterizes  to  a  degree  all 
men  ;  the  blessing  is  not  for  a  character  of  this  sort, 
it  is  for  those  that  hunger  and  tJiirst  after  righteous- 
ness— a  strong  figure  of  speech — for  hunger  and 
thirst  are  very  imperative  appetites. 

It  is  the  duty  of  man,  with  divine  aid,  to  educate 
himself  to  this  high  standard  of  righteousness. 

The  Fifth  Beatitude:  "  Blessed  are  the  merciful; 
for  they  shall  obtain  mercy." 

"  With  the  merciful  thou  wilt  show  thyself  merci- 
ful."    (II  Samuel  22:6.) 

The  Divine  displeasure  against  those  who  lack  in 
mercy  is  thus  stated  :  "  For  the  Lord  hath  a  con- 
troversy with  the  inhabitants  of  the  land,  because 
there  is  no  truth,  nor  mercy,  nor  knowledge  of  God 
in  the  land."     (Hosea  4:1.) 

"  Let  anyone  who  is  conversant  with  the  variety  of 
human  life  reflect  upon  it,  and  he  will  find  the  man 
who  wants  mercy  has  a  taste  of  no  enjoyment  of  any 
kind.  There  is  a  natural  disrelish  of  cxerything 
which  is  good,  in  his  very  nature  ;  and  he  is  born  an 
enemy  to  the  world.  He  is  ever  extremely  partial 
to  himself  in  all  his  actions,  and  has  no  sense  of 
iniquity  but  from  the  punishment  which  shall  at- 
tend it. 

"The  law  of  the  land  is  his  gospel,  and  all  his  cases 
of  conscience  are  determined  b\'  his  attorne\-." 


lUG  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

Balthasar's  argument  with  reference  to  Shylock's 
idea  of  compulsory  mercy  is  unrivaled  for  force  and 
beauty  of  thought  in  depicting  the  true  idea  of 
mercy,  thus : 

"The  quality  of  mercj  is  not  strain'd, 
It  droppeth,  as  the  gentle  rain  from  heaven, 
Upon  the  place  beneath;  it  is  twice  blest; 
It  blesseth  him  that  gives  and  him  that  takes; 
'Tis  mightiest  in  the  mightiest;  it  becomes 
The  throned  monarch  better  than  his  crown; 
His  sceptre  shows  the  force  of  temporal  power, 
The  attribute  to  awe  and  majesty, 
Wherein  doth  sit  the  dread  and  fear  of  kings; 
But  mercy  is  above  this  scepter'd  sway, 
It  is  enthroned  in  tlie  hearts  of  kings; 
It  is  an  attribute  to  God  himself; 
And  earthly  power  doth  then  show  likest  God's, 
When  mercy  seasons  justice." 

Merchant  of    Venter.  Act  IV,  Sc.  1. 

The  Sixth  Beatitude:  "Blessed  arc  the  pure  in 
heart ;  for  they  shall  see  God." 

To  see  God  is  to  dwell  in  his  presence.  It  is  only 
the  pure  in  heart  that  have  this  privilege.  "  Keep 
thy  heart  with  all  diligence,  for  out  of  it  are  the 
issues  of  life."     (Proverbs  4:23.) 

"  The  man  who  lives  under  an  habitual  sense  of 
the  divine  presence  keeps  up  a  perpetual  cheerful- 
ness of  temper,  and  enjoys  every  moment  the 
satisfaction  of  thinking  himself  in  company  with  his 
dearest  and  best  friend." 

The  Seventh  Beatitude:  "  Blessed  arc  the  peace- 
makers; for  they  shall  be  called  the  children  of  Gotl." 

Peace  is  the  natural  condition  of  man.     All  desire 


THE  BEATITUDES.  107 

the  blessings  of  peace,  especially  after  having  ex- 
perienced the  miseries  of  war.  Men  rush  into  battle 
with  a  shout,  but  the  return  with  tidings  of  an  hon- 
orable peace  is  an  occasion  of  great  joy.  "  How 
beautiful  upon  the  mountains  are  the  feet  of  him 
that  bringeth  good  tidings,  that  publisheth  peace." 
(Isaiah  52:7.) 

A  millennium  of  peace  may  not  soon  prevail  in  the 
earth,  yet  the  labors  of  the  peacemaker  are  blessed 
in  restraining  the  anger  of  men,  and  in  mitigating 
the  evils  of  war ;  and  the  peacemaker,  peace-society, 
and  the  peace-congress  for  settling  international  dis- 
putes are  of  great  utility,  and  have  a  divine  mission 
as  being  in  this  regard  the  ministering  "children  of 
God." 

The  Eighth  Beatitude:  "Blessed  are  they  which 
are  persecuted  for  righteousness'  sake ;  for  theirs  is 
the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

It  is  characteristic  of  the  unrighteous  to  speak  evil 
of  and  to  annoy  and  persecute  those  that  follow  after 
righteousness. 

The  rigJit  attitude  of  the  soul  under  persecution 
is:  "Bless  them  which  persecute  you;  bless  and 
curse  not."  (Romans  12:14.)  "Being  persecuted, 
we  suffer  it."     (I  Corinthians  4:  12.) 

These  precepts  were  contra  to  those  then  in  vogue, 
for  Jesus  says:  "Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been 
said,  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  and  hate  thino 
encm\-":  but  \-our  Father  which  is  in  hca\-cn  "makcth 
his  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the  good,  and 
sendeth  rain  on  the  just  and  on  the  unjust."  (Mat- 
thew 5  :  43,  45. j 


108         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIEXCE. 

From  these  precepts  it  appears  that  the  ethical 
relation  was  not  well  understood  even  by  the  Jews  in 
those  days.  There  are  numerous  instances  to  show 
that  ethic  ideas  are  progressive — at  times  also  retro- 
gressive. 

Fifty  to  a  hundred  years  ago  the  slave  trade  was 
justified  by  many.  Now,  by  civilized  and  christian- 
ized people,  it  is  held  to  be  no  better  than  piracy. 
In  England  and  the  United  States  there  has  been, 
in  the  last  fifty  years,  a  marked  change  in  favor  of 
stricter  rules  of  temperance.  Now,  this  change  in 
the  views  of  men  does  not  argue  any  change  in  the 
ground-principles  of  the  right.  This  is  always  the  same, 
and  there  is  in  the  soul  of  man  always  a  response  to 
this  principle  and  an  affirmation  of  it — but  his  intel- 
lect and  moral  perceptions  are  often  clouded,  so  as 
not  to  fully  appropriate  the  true  content  of  what  is 
right. 

Our  Lord's  closing  injunction  in  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount  is:  "Be  ye  perfect  as  your  heavenly 
Father  is  perfect." 

37.  The  Virtues. — General  View:  Virtue  is 
universally  praised  and  honored  by  men  and  vice 
is  reproved.  Even  those  who  are  not  virtuous  them- 
selves give  their  testimony  in  favor  of  virtue.  They 
acknowledge  their  duty ;  but  are  blind  to  their  own 
non-performance  of  it,  or  else  endeavor  to  excuse  it. 
"They  know  the  better,  yet  pursue  the  worse." 

We  often  condemn  in  others  what  we  are  guilty 
of  ourselves.  The  scripture  injunctions  arc  :  "Add 
to   your    faith    virtue,  and    to    virtue  knowledge." 


THE    VIRTUES.  109 


(II  Peter  I  :  5.)  "Finally,  brethren,  whatsoever  things 
are  true,  whatsoever  things  are  honest,  whatsoever 
things  are  just,  whatsoever  things  are  pure,  what- 
soever things  are  lovely,  whatsoever  things  are  of 
good  report ;  if  there  be  any  virtue,  and  if  there  be 
any  praise,  think  on  these  things."  (Philippians 
4:8.) 

We  see  that  vice  is  punished  by  law;  but  that 
against  virtue  there  is  no  law. 

This  proves  that  virtue  is  recognized  as  the  natural 
and  proper  state  of  man,  and  that  vice  is  regarded  as 
an  abnormal  condition  to  be  discouraged  and  cor- 
rected. St.  Paul  discloses  this  idea  in  his  enumer- 
ation of  Christian  virtues.  "  But  the  fruit  of  the 
Spirit  is  love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  gentleness, 
goodness,  faith,  meekness,  temperance ;  against  such 
there  is  no  law."     (Galatians  5  :  22,  23.) 

These  virtues  are  in  them.selves  natural  laws, 
against  which  there  can  be  no  ground  for  positive 
law. 

With  the  ancients,  prudence,  justice,  temperance 
and  fortitude  were  reckoned  cardinal  virtues. 

What  a  man  ought  to  do  and  does  do  in  the  face 
of  adverse  influences,  is  a  virtue  ;  and  as  in  doing  right 
we  are  beset  with  temptation  not  to  do  right,  right 
acts — morally  right — are  accounted  as  virtues. 

"We  love  a  virtuous  man,"  says  TuUy,  "though 
he  live  in  the  remotest  parts  of  the  earth  ;  though 
we  are  altogether  out  of  the  reach  of  his  virtue,  and 
can  receive  from  it  no  manner  of  benefit ;  na\-.  one 
who  died  several  years  ago  raises  a  secret  fondness 
and  benevolence   for   him,   in   our  minds,   when   we 


ilU  MORAL  AND  RELKilOUS  SCIENCE. 

read  his  story ;  nay,  what  is  still  more,  one  who  has 
been  the  enemy  of  our  countiy,  provided  his  wars 
were  regulated  by  justice  and  humanity.  Such  is 
the  natural  beauty  and  loveliness  of  virtue." 

"As  virtue  in  general  is  of  an  amiable  and  lovely 
nature,  there  are  some  particular  kinds  of  it  which 
are  more  so  than  others,  and  these  are  such  as  dispose 
us  to  do  good  to  mankind." 

Temperance  and  abstinence,  faith  and  devotion, 
are  in  themselves  perhaps  as  laudable  as  any  other 
virtues;  but  those  which  make  a  man  popular  and 
beloved  are  justice,  charity,  munificence,  and  in  short 
ail  the  good  qualities  that  render  us  beneficial  to 
each  other. 

The  two  great  ornaments  of  virtue  which  show 
her  in  the  most  advantageous  views,  and  make  her 
altogether  lovely,  are  cheerfulness  and  good  nature. 
These  generally  go  together,  as  a  man  cannot  be 
agreeable  to  others  who  is  not   easy  within   himself. 

They  are  both  very  requisite  in  a  virtuous  mind  to 
keep  out  melancholy  from  the  many  serious  thoughts 
it  is  engaged  in,  and  to  hinder  its  natural  hatred  of 
vice  from  souring  into  severity  and  censoriousness. 

Tully  further  says  :  "  Virtue  and  decency  are  so 
nearly  related  that  it  is  difficult  to  separate  them 
from  each  other  but  in  our  imagination.  As  the 
beauty  of  the  body  always  accompanies  the  health 
of  it,  so  certainly  is  decency  the  concomitant  to 
virtue. 

"  As  beauty  of  body  with  an  agreeable  carriage 
pleases  the  eye,  and  that  pleasure  consists  in  that  we 
observe  all  the  parts  with  a  certain  elegance  are  pro- 


THE    VIRTUES.  Ill 


portioned  to  each  other,  so  does  decency  of  behavior 
which  appears  in  our  hves  obtain  the  approba- 
tion of  all  with  whom  we  converse,  from  the  or- 
der, consistency  and  moderation  of  our  words  and 
actions, 

"  This  flows  from  the  reverence  we  bear  towards 
every  good  man.  and  to  the  world  in  general,  for  to 
be  negligent  of  what  anyone  thinks  of  you  does  not 
only  show  you  arrogant,  but  abandoned."  {The 
Spectator,  Nos.  104,  243.) 

Industry:  By  industry  is  meant  a  steady  employ- 
ment of  the  hand  or  mind  in  the  prosecution  of  any 
proper  or  suitable  work  or  design  for  some  good  ob- 
ject. 

Thus  w^e  speak  of  an  industrious  mechanic,  far- 
mer, merchant,  student. 

Industry  is  a  virtue  when  directed  to  the  virtuous 
end  of  providing  a  comfortable  living  for  oneself,  or 
for  those  dependent  on  us,  the  wife,  the  child,  the 
aged  father  and  mother,  or  of  aiding  in  some  be- 
nevolent work,  or  in  the  cause  of  education,  and  in 
the  promotion  of  right  principles  of  life  among  men. 

Idleness  is  the  opposite  of  industry — it  is  a  vice, 
and  its  results  are  contra  in  character.  The  idle  me- 
chanic, instead  of  being  a  generous  bread-winner  for 
his  house,  wastes  his  irregular  earnings  at  the  ale- 
house, and  lets  his  unhapp)-  wife  provide,  as  best 
she  can,  the  scant  meal  for  herself  and  children. 
The  idle  farmer,  instead  of  fine  wheat,  produces 
weeds. 

"I  went  by  the  field  of  tlic  slothful,  and  by  the 
vine3'ard  of  the  man  void  of  understanding,  and  lo, 


112         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

it  was  all  grown  over  with  thorns,  and  nettles  had 
covered  the  face  thereof,  and  the  stone  wall  thereof 
was  broken  down."  (Proverbs  24:  30,  31.)  "The  slug- 
gard v.ill  not  plough  by  reason  of  the  cold :  there- 
fore shall  he  beg  in  harvest,  and  have  nothing." 
(Proverbs  20  :  4.)  "An  idle  soul  shall  suffer  hunger." 
(Proverbs  19 :  15.) 

Industry  tends  to  independence :  idleness,  to  de- 
pendence. "The  hand  of  the  diligent  shall  bear 
rule ;  but  the  slothful  shall  be  under  tribute." 
(Proverbs  12  :  24.) 

The  apostle,  in  exhorting  to  the  performance  of 
duties,  enumerated  diligence  or  industry  among 
Christian  virtues.  "Not  slothful  in  business;  fer- 
vent in  spirit ;  serving  the  Lord."    (Romans  12  :  11.) 

In  scripture  we  have  the  aui  as  the  type  of  indus- 
try. "Go  to  the  ant,  thou  sluggard,  consider  her 
ways  and  be  wise."     (Proverbs  6 :  6.) 

Frugality  is  a  virtue  akin  to  industry,  for  industry 
is  in  vain  unless  joined  with  frugality,  namely,  a 
moderate  use  without  waste  of  the  means  we  ac- 
quire by  industry.  Without  frugality  we  save  noth- 
ing against  a  time  of  need. 

Poverty  does  not  insure  frugality ;  often  the  poor 
are  most  wasteful  and  improvident.  It  is  this  lack 
of  frugality  that  keeps  them  poor.  This  is,  perhaps, 
the  exception  rather  than  the  rule ;  for  there  are 
many  virtuous  poor,  frugal  and  yet  straitened  in 
their  means. 

Uncultivated  individuals  and  uncivilized  people, 
the  barbarous  and  savage  races,  like  the  Indians  of 
North  America,  are  most  noted  for  lack  of  frugality, 


THE    VIRTUES.  113 


using  and  spending  freely  and  wastefully  what  they 
have  while  it  lasts,  without  regard  to  the  probable 
wants  of  the  morrow. 

Among  insects,  the  ant  has  been  cited  ;  it  cannot, 
however,  be  said  that  insects  are  industrious  or  fru- 
gal from  virtuous  motives,  but  that  they  act  merely 
from  an  instinctive  sense  of  what  is  necessary  for  self- 
preservation. 

But  young  people  should  be  trained  in  the  virtue 
of  accomplishing  much  by  well-directed  effort ,  and 
of  putting  to  good  use  what  they  acquire. 

They  should  learn  to  hate  idleness  and  a  frivolous 
employment  .of  time— not,  however,  to  shun  such 
honest  sport  and  recreation  as  is  needful  to  the 
maintenance  of  good  spirits  and  health. 

Frugality,  it  has  been  said,  is  the  basis  of  liber- 
ality. The  frugal  man,  the  man  who  takes  care  of 
the  pence,  is  the  man  most  ready  to  bestow  a 
pound,  with  good  judgment  as  to  where  it  is  most 
needed  ,  while  the  generous  man,  who  is  not  frugal, 
is  liable  to  defraud  his  own  household,  and  at  the 
same  time  misapply  his  bounty  by  the  selection  of 
an  unworthy  object. 

George  Washington  disliked  waste,  and  so  is  it 
with  the  great  benefactors  of  mankind  ;  and  so  do 
most  persons  feel  who  know  the  cost  of  a  dollar 
earned  by  toil. 

The  miser  personifies  the  abuse  of  frugality. 
"  Riches  give  him  no  plenty  ;  increase,  no  joy  ;  pros- 
perity, no  ease ;  he  has  the  curse  of  covetousness 
— to  want  the  property  of  his  neighbors,  while  he 
dare  not  touch  his  own  ;  the  harpy  Avarice  drives 


114  MORAL  AND  RELICilOCS  SCIEXCE. 

him  from  his  own  meat ;  the  sum  of  his  wisdom  and 
his  gains  will  be,  by  living  poor  to  die  rich. 

His  monument  should  be  lettered  thus:  "Here 
lies  one  who  lived  unloved,  died  unlamented  ;  denied 
plenty  to  himself,  assistance  to  his  friends,  and  relief 
to  the  poor ;  starved  his  family,  oppressed  his  neigh- 
bors, plagued  himself  to  gain  what  he  could  not 
enjoy;  at  last,  death,  more  merciful  to  him  than  he 
to  himself,  released  him  from  care,  and  his  family 
from  want." 

Economy  is  related  to  frugality,  yet  has  a  wider 
meaning.  Frugality  is  restricted  to  the  use  of  ma- 
terial. Economy  enters  into  the  production  of  ma- 
terial as  well  as  its  use. 

The  true  province  of  economy  is  finely  discussed 
by  Hannah  Moore.  Can  anyone  do  better  than  to 
quote  from  what  this  gifted  author  has  written  ? 

"  Ladies  whose  natural  vanity  has  been  aggravated 
by  a  false  education,  may  look  down  on  economy  as  a 
vulgar  attainment,  unworthy  the  attention  of  a 
highly  cultivated  intellect  ;  but  this  is  the  false 
estimate  of  a  shallow  mind.  Economy,  such  as  a 
woman  of  fortune  is  called  on  to  practice,  is  not 
merely  the  petty  detail  of  small  daily  expenses,  the 
shabby  curtailments  and  stinted  parsimony  of  a 
little  mind  operating  on  little  concerns ;  but  it  is 
the  exercise  of  a  sound  judgment  exerted  in  the 
comprehensive  outline  of  order,  of  arrangement,  of 
distribution;  of  regulations  by  which  alone  well- 
governed  societies,  great  and  small,  subsist.  She 
who  has  the  best  regulated  mind  will,  other  things 
being  equal,  have  the  best  regulated  famil\-.     As,  in 


rilE    VIRl  LES.  115 


the  superintendence  of  the  universe,  wisdom  is  seen 
in  its  effects;  and,  as  in  the  visible  works  of  Provi- 
dence, that  which  goes  on  with  such  beautiful  regu- 
larity is  the  result  not  of  chance,  but  of  design  ;  so 
that  management  which  seems  the  most  easy  is 
commonly  the  consequence  of  the  best  concerted 
plan  ;  and  a  well  concerted  plan  is  seldom  the  off- 
spring of  an  ordinary  mind.  A  sound  economy  is  a 
sound  understanding  brought  into  action ;  it  is  a 
calculation  realized  ;  it  is  the  doctrine  of  proportion 
reduced  to  practice ;  it  is  foreseeing  consequences, 
and  guarding  against  them ;  it  is  expecting  con- 
tingencies, and  being  prepared  for  them." 

Prudence:  '*Be  prudent,"  is  often  the  caution  of  a 
parent,  friend,  or  other  adviser,  in  reference  to  some- 
thing we  propose  to  do,  or  are  about  to  do ;  and  it 
means  that  we  shall  carefully  consider  first  whether 
it  is  best  to  do  it,  and,  if  so,  in  what  way,  by  what 
means,  the  desired  end  can  best  be  obtained. 

Webster  defines  prudence,  "  Wisdom  applied  to 
practice  ;  and  prudent,  "  Sagacious  in  adapting  means 
to  ends." 

"A  prudent  man  foreseeth  the  evil,  and  hideth 
himself;  but  the  simple  pass  on  and  are  punished." 
(Proverbs  22  :  3.)  Solomon  was  "endued  with  pru- 
dence and  understanding."     (II  Chronicles  2  :  12.) 

A  great  part  of  what  we  call  good  or  ill  fortune 
comes  from  right  or  wrong  plans  of  life  ;  so  that  to 
be  unfortunate  in  one's  affairs  means  about  the  same 
as  to  be  imprudent ;  hence  good  fortune  presupposes 
prudence.  Hut  this  is  not  all  the  truth,  for  as  the 
Scottish  bard  has  it : 


116         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

"The  best  laid  schemes  o'  mice  and  men 
Gang  aft  agley." 

And  so  is  it  evident  that  many  events  in  our  lives 
result  from  causes  beyond  the  reach  of  prudence  to 
provide  for.  These  are  accounted  accidents  from 
their  unforeseen  nature ;  and  providences,  from  the 
innate  idea  and  sentiment  that  all  events  occur  in  ac- 
cord with  the  Divine  will.  In  TJie  Spectator,  No.  293, 
is  given  an  instance  of  the  application  of  this  senti- 
ment to  a  notable  event. 

On  the  destruction  of  the  "invincible  Armada," 
the  queen  Elizabeth,  regarding  the  favoring  storm 
as  indicating  that  Providence  was  on  her  side,  caused 
a  medal  to  be  made  to  represent  a  fleet  beaten  by  a 
tempest,  with  this  inscription :  "Afiflavit  Deus,  et 
dissipantur."  God  breathed  a  storm,  and  they  were 
scattered. 

Prudence  for  Girls  \^Maria  Edgrcvorth]  :  "In  the 
education  of  girls,  we  must  teach  them  much  more 
caution  than  is  necessary  to  boys ;  their  prudence 
must  be  more  the  result  of  reasoning  than  of  experi- 
ment;  they  must  trust  to  the  experience  of  others; 
they  cannot  always  have  recourse  to  what  ought  to 
be ;  they  must  adapt  themselves  to  what  is  ;  they 
cannot  rectify  tiie  material  mistakes  in  their  conduct. 
Timidity,  a  certain  tardiness  of  decision,  and  reluct- 
ance to  act  in  public  situations,  are  not  considered 
as  defects  in  a  woman's  character  ;  her  pausing  pru- 
dence does  not,  to  a  man  of  discernment,  denote 
imbecility,  but  appears  to  him  the  graceful,  au- 
spicious   characteristic  of    female   virtue.     There  is 


THE    VIRTUES.  117 


always  more  probability  that  women  should  endan- 
ger their  own  happiness  by  precipitation  than  by 
forbearance.  Promptitude  of  choice  is  seldom  ex- 
pected from  the  female  sex ;  they  should  avail 
themselves  of  the  leisure  that  is  permitted  to  them 
for  reflection.  '  Begin  nothing  of  which  you  have 
not  considered  the  end,'  was  the  advice  for  which 
the  Eastern  sultan  paid  a  purse  of  gold." 

The  native  prudence  Maria  Edgeworth  treats  of 
does  not  militate  against  a  certain  freedom  and  de- 
cision in  thought  and  act  which  the  increased  ad- 
vantages of  education  accorded  to  girls  of  the 
present  age  has  made  possible  and  has  given  to 
the  sex.  These  new  advantages  widen  the  sphere 
of  usefulness  and  happiness  for  women,  give  value 
to  their  work  and  conversation — provided  they  do 
not,  by  the  abuse  of  them,  displace  native  prudence  ; 
for  feminine  freedom  and  decision,  born  of  a  liberal 
culture  in  literature  and  in  the  science  of  life,  when 
circled  by  feminine  prudence,  is  like  "apples  of  gold 
in  pictures  of  silver." 

Self-control,  or  presence  of  mind,  and  a  well 
poised  soul  is  an  important  virtue. 

This  means  that  we  should  control  our  hopes, 
fears,  desires  and  passions,  so  as  not  to  be  taken  by 
surprise,  and  carried  away  captive  by  thcni  under 
any  circumstances  that  may  chance  to  arise.  If 
danger  confronts  us,  we  gain  nothing  by  giving 
way  to  fear;  we  must  hold  on  to  our  wits  to  com- 
prehend the  situation,  and  to  use  such  remedies  as 
are  practicable. 

In  case  of  threatened  violence  from  an  enem\',  a 


lis         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

robber,  or  an  enraged  or  vicious  animal,  collected 
thoughts  and  feelings  are  needful  to  ward  off  the 
attack  by  prompt,  vigorous  and  effective  resistance, 
if  this  be  the  practicable  way;  if  not,  by  a  wise  re- 
treat from  the  impending  danger. 

Self-control,  when  anger  is  provoked,  is  a  virtue. 
"  Be  ye  angry  and  sin  not ;  let  not  the  sun  go  down 
on  your  wrath."  Anger  is  a  natural  passion  be- 
stowed on  man  for  a  good  purpose.  Anger  is  the 
manifestation  of  dislike,  and  it  is  sometimes  neces- 
sary to  let  a  foolish  or  a  wicked  person  know  that 
we  dislike  his  ways. 

The  viper  is  angry  when  trodden  on,  and  his  mani- 
festation of  anger  is  doubly  useful.  It  guards  the 
viper  from  further  molestation  ;  and  his  angry  hiss 
puts  the  innocent  intruder  on  his  guard  to  get  be- 
yond the  reach  of  the  poisonous  fang.  Manifest 
anger,  if  properly  restrained,  may  be  beneficial  to 
both  actor  and  object. 

As  to  the  appetites  and  propensities,  virtue  is 
compatible  only  with  a  strict  control  over  them. 
Self-control  cements  the  foundations  of  virtue; 
where  this  is  lacking,  vice  easily  usurps  the  place  of 
virtue  and  all  is  lost. 

Purity  and  Contincncy :  The  family  is  the  hearth- 
stone of  virtue,  and  the  corner-stone  of  society,  good 
government,  prosperity  and  happiness. 

Impurity  is  directly  antagonistic  to  this  primeval 
and  fundamental  institution — hence  wise  legislators 
and  legislation  oppose  and  restrict. 

The  high  praise  bestowed  upon  the  virtue  of 
the  Roman  matron  indicates  the  tone  not  only  of 


THE    VIRTUES.  .  119 


Roman  sentiment,  but  the  true  feeling  and  senti- 
ment of  all  men  whose  moral  nature  has  not  been 
blunted  by  vice ;  and  hardly  any  vice  demoralizes 
the  entire  man  more  thoroughly  than  that  of  impu- 
rit}'.  It  is  antagonistic  to  all  law,  physical  and 
moral,  and  as  a  bad  habit,  for  whose  inlet  into  and 
possession  of  the  soul  the  will  of  man  is  entirely  re- 
sponsible, it  speedily  gains  the  mastery,  tyrannizes 
over  the  soul,  and  destroys  all  the  good  in  man's 
nature,  except  by  special  and  determined  effort  at 
reformation.  Eras  of  profligacy  have  prevailed  in 
all  nationalities,  even  the  most  civilized  ;  among  the 
formal-religious  and  the  openly  irreligious  ;  and  too 
often  this  dark  and  low  sink  of  vice  and  crime  is 
found  among  the  so-called  higher  classes  of  society. 
When  the  leaders  in  the  social  fabric,  and  the  rulers 
in  the  political,  are  themselves  corrupt,  then  indeed 
the  people  have  good  reason  to  mourn. 

Continency  is  by  natural  law,  in  so  far  as  it  char- 
acterizes the  animal  creation,  and  is  maintained 
within  its  bounds  by  physical  law,  save  that  in  man 
alone  in  accord  with  his  higher  endowment,  conti- 
nency must  be  regarded  and  habitually  established 
by  reason,  by  common  sense,  and  by  the  categorical- 
imperative  of  the  moral  nature ;  for  without  conti- 
nency there  can  be  no  health  nor  happiness  in  the 
conjugal  relation;  nor  in  the  social;  nor  in  life. 

Sincerity,  Simplicity :  Sincerity  is  honesty  of  in- 
tent and  is  compatible  with  all  knowledge. 

Simplicity  is  an  artlessness  and  sincerity  that  is 
compatible  with  a  lack  of  wisdom  ;  it  characterizes 
the  child. 


120         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

Scripture  furnishes  fine  illustrations  of  these  traits : 
"Jesus  saw  Nathanael  coming  to  him,  and  saith  of 
him,  Behold  an  Israelite,  indeed,  in  whom  is  no 
guile!"  (John  1:47.)  A  Bible  character  quite  the 
opposite  we  have  in  the  patriarch  Jacob,  noted  in 
his  youth  for  his  wiles;  while  on  the  other  hand, 
his  tvvin  brother — the  rude,  thoughtless,  yet  gen- 
erous, kind-hearted  Esau,  though  defrauded  of  his 
birthright,  maintains  throughout  an  honest  simplic- 
ity and  sincerity  in  his  relations  with  all,  even  with 
Jacob. 

Simplicity  and  sincerity  are  qualities  that  natu- 
rally belong  to  man^iow  naturally  is  seen  in  the 
speech  and  acts  of  little  children,  which  are  surely 
marked  by  these  pleasing  and  valuable  traits  of  the 
soul,  till  corrupted  by  evil  communications.  As 
natural  and  desirable  qualities,  all  men  admire  and 
respect  them  wherever  exhibited;  like  all  the  vir- 
tues, they  have  a  universal  character,  in  moral  rela- 
tion. 

In  literature,  simplicity  of  style  is  regarded  as 
most  attractive,  and  holds  attention  where  os- 
tentatious ornament  would  tire ;  for  simplicity 
is  compatible  with  a  directness  and  energy  of  dic- 
tion that  distinguishes  elevated  thought,  and  read- 
ily passes  over  into  the  sublime — like  a  great  calm 
resting  upon  the  ground-swell  of  the  boundless 
ocean. 

Consider  the  lilies,  how  they  grow:  they  toil  not, 
they  spin  not;  and  yet  I  say  unto  you,  that  Solo- 
mon in  all  his  glory  was  not  arrayed  like  one  of 
these.     If  then  God  so  clothe  the  grass,  which   to- 


THE    VIRTUES.  121 


day  is  in  the  field,  and  tomorrow  is  cast  into  the 
oven,  how  much  more  will  he  clothe  you. 

Here  we  have  great  simplicity  and  beauty,  and  deep 
moral  and  religious  sentiment  underlying  it. 

Charity  is  love  in  a  wide  sense;  is  a  primary  prin- 
ciple that  pervades  all  the  amenities  of  life ;  is  the 
common  flux  that  promotes  the  fusion  and  easy  flow 
of  the  graces  of  the  soul. 

When  we  say  this  man  is  charitable,  we  generally 
mean  that  he  relieves  the  needy,  or  is  liberal,  so  far 
as  his  means  admit,  in  the  endowment  and  support 
of  charitable  institutions;  but  if  we  add,  is  charitable 
in  his  judgments,  we  mean  that  he  puts  a  liberal 
construction  on  the  acts  of  other  people,  and  con- 
demns not  hastily. 

Nowhere  better  than  in  the  Scriptures  do  we  find 
exhibited  the  meaning,  use  and  praise  of  charity.  In 
I  Corinthians,  chap.  13,  occur  in  substance  these 
sentiments,  thus : 

Though  I  speak  with  the  tongues  of  men  and  of 
angels,  and  have  not  charity,  I  am  become  as 
sounding  brass,  or  a  tinkling  cymbal. 

And  though  I  have  the  gift  of  prophecy  and 
all  knowledge,  and  have  not  charity,  I  am  noth- 
ing. 

Charity  suffereth  long  and  is  kind ;  envieth  not ; 
vaunteth  not  itself;  is  not  puffed  up ;  seeketh  not 
her  own  ;  is  not  easily  provoked  ;  thinketh  no  evil ; 
beareth  all  things,  believeth  all  things,  hopeth  all 
things,  endureth  all  things,  and  never  fails. 

And  now  abideth  faith,  hope,  charity,  these 
three;  but  the  greatest  of  these  is  charity. 


122         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

38.     The  Sentiments. — Patriotism. 

"  Breathes  there  the  man  with  soul  so  dead, 
Who  never  to  himself  hath  said, 

This  is  mv  own,  mv  native  land  ! 
Whose  heart  hath  ne'er  within  him  burn'd, 
As  home  his  footsteps  he  hath  turn'd 

From  wandering  on  a  foreign  strand? 
If  such  there  breathe,  go,  mark  him  well; 
For  hiin  no  minstrel  raptures  swell; 
High  tho'  his  titles,  proud  his  name, 
Boundless  his  wealth  as  wish  can  claim, — 
Despite  those  titles,  power  and  pelf. 
The  wretch,  concentered  all  in  self, 
Living,  shall  forfeit  fair  renown, 
Andyi  doubly  dying,  shall  go  down 
To  the  vile  dust,  from  whence  he  sprimg, 
Unwept,  Unhonored,  and  unsung." 

—  Walter  Scotf. 

Noted  instances  of  patriotism  can  be  seen  in  the 
history  of  the  nations  of  ahnost  every  age  of  the 
world.  It  is,  however,  better  for  us  to  recall  those  of 
more  recent  times,  and  specially  those  of  our 
own  land ;  for  nowhere  do  we  find  a  more  intelligent 
and  ardent  devotion  to  the  then  present  and  to  the 
future  weal  of  one's  native  land  and  to  the  j^rinciple 
of  liberty  than  in  the  acts  individual  and  collective 
of  the  American  colonists  prior  to  and  during  the 
.struggle  for  independence.  Daniel  Webster's  elo- 
(lucnt  words  are  :  '"Nowhere  can  be  found  higher 
l)roofs  of  a  spirit  that  was  ready  to  hazard  all,  to 
pledge  all,  to  sacrifice  all,  in  the  cause  of  the  country. 
Instances  were  not  unfrequent  in  which  small  free- 
holders parted  with  their  last  hoof,  and  the  last 
measure    of   corn    from    their   granaries,    to   supply 


rilE  SENTIMENTS.  123 

provision  for  the  troops  aiul  hire  service  for  the 
ranks. 

"The  voice  of  Otis  and  of  Adams  in  Faneuil  Hall 
found  its  full  and  true  echo  in  the  little  councils  of 
the  interior  towns ;  and  if  within  the  Continental 
Congress  patriotism  shows  more  conspicuously,  it 
did  not  there  exist  more  trul}-,  nor  burn  more  fer- 
vently; it  did  not  render  the  day  more  anxious  or 
the  night  more  sleepless  ;  it  sent  up  no  more  ardent 
prayer  to  God  for  succor,  and  it  put  forth  in  no 
greater  degree  the  fullness  of  its  effect,  and  the  en- 
ergy of  its  whole  soul  and  spirit  in  the  common 
cause,  than  it  did  in  the  small  assemblies  of  the 
towns." 

In  the  above  extract  is  brought  out  the  important 
fact  that  the  common  people  were  ready  with  their 
offerings  on  the  altar  of  liberty  no  less  than  were 
their  more  distinguished  compatriots  and  leaders ;  the 
tiller  of  the  soil,  no  less  than  the  man  of  wise  coun- 
sel, brave  words  and  heroic  deeds,  like  James  Otis, 
Samuel  and  John  Adams,  Benjamin  Franklin,  Pat- 
rick Henry,  Lee,  Thomas  Jefferson  and  George 
Washington. 

And  no  less  overflowing  with  pure  love  of  country 
was  the  soul  of  that  honest  Quaker,  Robert  Morris, 
who  in  time  of  great  need  came  to  his  countr}-'s  aid 
with  "the  sinews  of  war,"  in  his  wealth  of  gold  and 
of  financial  ability.  The  signers  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  pledged  their  lives,  their  fortunes 
and  their  sacred  honor. 

Patriotism  as  a  sentiment  is  inspired  by  the  moral 
principle  of  duty  to  the  present   and    future  genera- 


124         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

tions — hence  its  ethic  character.  The  patriotic  ele- 
ment or  character  has  been  denied  to  brave  Leonidas 
and  his  band  of  three  hundred  Spartans  who  per- 
ished at  Thermopylae,  on  the  ground  that  they 
fell  in  obedience  to  a  sentiment  of  duty  to  their 
laws — to  Spartan  law — rather  than  in  obedience  to 
a  sentiment  of  patriotism ;  but  this  objection  is 
nothing — is  short-sighted  criticism — for  the  law  was 
made  to  voice  the  sentiment  of  patriotism.  Obedi- 
ence to  the  laws  was  only  the  immediate  ground- 
principle  or  corner-stone,  of  which  obedience  to  the 
patriotic  sentiment  was  the  lower  bed-rock. 

The  Abuse  of  the  Sentiment  of  Patriotism  :  "As 
men,  in  proportion  to  their  moral  advancement, 
learn  to  enlarge  the  circle  of  their  regards ;  as  an  ex- 
clusive affection  for  our  relatives,  our  clan,  or  our 
country,  is  a  sure  mark  of  an  unimproved  mind  ;  so 
is  that  narrow  and  unchristian  feeling  to  be  con- 
demned which  regards  with  jealousy  the  progress  of 
foreign  nations,  and  cares  for  no  portion  of  the 
human  race  but  that  to  which  itself  belongs. 

The  detestable  encouragement  so  long  given  to 
national  enmities — the  low  gratification  felt  by  every 
people  in  extolling  themselves  above  their  neigh- 
bors— should  not  be  forgotten  among  the  causes 
which  have  mainly  obstructed  the  improvement  of 
mankind. 

Exclusive  patriotism  should  be  cast  off,  together 
with  the  exclusive  ascendancy  of  birth,  as  belong- 
ing to  the  follies  and  selfishness  of  our  uncultivated 
nature." — D?\  Artiold. 

Frioidship  is  the   mutual  affection   of  two  souls 


THE  SENTIMENTS.  125 

that  honor,  admire,  have  confidence  in  and  under- 
stand each  other,  so  that  the  one  enters  into  the 
joys  and  the  sorrows  of  the  other. 

True  friendship  is  compatible  only  with  virtue — the 
love  of  good  qualities.  Not  every  man  can  be  said  to 
have  a  friend  in  the  proper,  the  highest  and  best 
sense  of  friendship,  and  men  have  friends — held 
to  be  such — in  various  degrees  of  friendly  relations ; 
and  so  friendship  affects  not  merely  the  individuals, 
but  society  at  large. 

Among  the  noted  instances  of  friendship  is  com- 
monly cited  that  between  Damon  and  Pythias,  Da- 
vid and  Jonathan. 

In  reference  to  the  friendship  that  existed  be- 
tween Christ  and  his  disciples,  the  Lord  Jesus  gives 
us  the  best  characteristic  and  definition  of  friendship, 
when  he  says :  "  Henceforth  I  call  you  not  ser- 
vants; for  the  servant  knoweth  not  what  his  lord 
doeth ;  but  I  have  called  you  friends,  for  all  things 
that  I  have  heard  of  my  Father  I  have  made  known 
unto  you."     (John  15:  15.) 

*       *      *       *     "  and  many  sounds  were  sweet, 
Most  ravishing  and  pleasant  to  the  ear; 
But  sweeter  none  than  voice  of  faithful  friend, 
Sweet  always,  sweetest  heard  in  loudest  storm. 
Some  I  remember  and  will  ne'er  forget; 
My  early  friends,  friends  of  my  evil  day; 
F'riends  in  my  mirth,  friends  in  my  misery'  too; 
Friends  given  by  God  in  mercy  and  in  love; 
My  counsellors,  my  comforters,  and  guides." 

—Pollok. 

The  Ethics  of  Friendship:  Duty  in  friendship  is 
well  defined  in  this  given  characteristic :  "A  friend 


1-.6  MORAL  AND  RELK.IOUS  SCIENCE. 

sticketh  closer  than  a  brother."  (Proverbs  r8:  24.) 
Be  true  to  your  friend  hi  good  and  in  evil  report,  and 
give  all  needed  counsel,  aid  and  comfort  compatible 
with  the  maintenance  of  a  good  conscience. 

If  your  friend  is  fortunate,  rejoice  with  him,  with- 
out the  slightest  feeling  of  envy;  if  unfortunate,  or 
in  the  wrong,  help  him  in  his  difificulty  to  the  ex- 
tent of  your  ability — save  only  a  due  regard  to 
truth  and  the  right — just  as  is  required  of  an  honest 
lawyer  in  behalf  of  his  client. 

With  those  in  authority,  a  false  friendship  some- 
times obtains  toward  favorites  and  family  relatives. 
Thus,  Queen  Elizabeth  had  her  favorites,  Essex  and 
Leicester,  to  the  detriment  of  the  public  weal. 

Washington,  in  making  appointments  to  ofifices 
of  public  trust,  found  it  necessary — excluding  the 
consideration  of  family  ties — to  regard  only  fitness 
of  character  and  qualifications  for  the  office,  and 
claims  from  former  merit  in  the  public  service. 

Honor  is  defined  by  Webster  thus:  "A  nice  sense 
of  what  is  right,  just  and  true,  with  a  course  of  life 
correspondent  thereto." 

"Say,  what  is  honor?     'Tis  the  finest  sense 
Of  justice  which  the  human  mind  can  frame 
Intent  each  kirking  frailtj  to  disclaim, 
And  guard  the  way  of  life  from  all  offense 
Suffered  or  done."  —  Wordsxvorth. 

"  Honor  and  fame  from  no  condition  rise; 
Act  well  vour  part;  there  all  the  honor  lies."     - 

—Pope. 

The  sentiment  of  Pope  in  this  couplet,  in  one 
view,  speaks  truly ;  in  another  it  is  incorrect.  Admit 


in  TV  IN  MONAf.  HE  LA  TIOX.  127 

that  honor  is  not  necessarily  affected  by  condition, 
yet  practically  it  is.  We  should  by  nature  have 
thoughts  and  feelings  just  and  honorable  ;  but  to 
insure  the  cultivation,  maintenance  and  habitual 
presence  and  use  of  such  feelings,  the  environment 
must  be  favorable;  in  other  words,  the  element  of 
condition  enters. 

In  the  English  Parliament  the  lords  act /r^  bono 
publico,  on  the  honor  of  gentlemen;  with  a  king, 
the  focal  point  of  honor  is  in  truth  and  justice  ;  with 
a  soldier,  it  is  in  obedience  and  courage ;  with  the 
statesman,  it  is  in  moral  courage — fidelity  to  one's 
convictions,  while  the  man  of  business  sees  it  in 
honesty  and  in  the  prompt  discharge  of  obligations. 

Sir  Walter  Scott,  by  the  reverses  of  his  partners 
in  publishing  houses,  became  responsible  for  over 
100,000  pounds  sterling.  Of  this  immense  debt  he 
paid  40,000  pounds  in  two  years  by  means  of  his 
literary  labors,  and  all  in  six  years ;  but  the  toil  and 
strain  cost  him  his  life.  This  act  has  wreathed  the 
brow  of  Sir  Walter  Scott  with  greener  laurels  than 
all  his  literary  honors. 


division  ii.    duty;  duties. 

39.  Duty  the  Element  in  All  Moral  Re- 
lation.— Duty  Defined:  Webster  defines  it  thus  : 
"  That  which  a  person  is  bound,  by  any  natural, 
moral  or  legal  obligation  to  do,  or  to  refrain  from 
doing  ;  the  relation  or  obliging  force  of  that  which 
is  morally  right." 


128         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

Duty  Illustrated :  The  Priest  and  the  Levite, 
who  passed  by  on  the  other  side,  were  morally 
bound  to  succor  the  wounded  man  who  on  the 
road  to  Jericho  had  fallen  among  thieves  or  robbers; 
but  they  did  not.  They  possessed  neither  the  native 
good  feelings  of  humanity,  nor  a  true  idea  of  re- 
ligion, or  of  duty  to  God,  though  professedly  they 
were  religious.  If  was  left  to  the  good  Samaritan — 
good,  though  ordinarily  not  on  speaking  terms  with 
the  wounded  stranger  he  had  fallen  in  with  by  the 
wayside — to  illustrate  the  true  idea  of  duty  in  the 
manifestation  of  "  love  for  one's  neighbor." 

In  behalf  of  a  man  by  national  antipathy  and  edu- 
cation inimical  to  himself,  he  did  all  acts  of  kind- 
ness necessary  to  relieve  his  distress;  bound  up  his 
wounds,  conveyed  him  to  a  place  of  safety  ;  and 
paid  the  charges  for  the  care  of  him  until  his 
recovery. 

In  family,  social  and  neighborly  relations,  sympa- 
tiiy,  love,  good  will,  and  kind  acts  are  duties,  as  well 
as  the  works  necessary  for  life  and  health.  That 
duty  is  the  essential  element  in  these  relations  is  evi- 
dent enough ;  and  also  in  other  relations — in  civil 
and  political  affairs,  a  sense  of  duty  must  control  all 
the  acts  of  citizens  and  officials,  else  the  public  weal 
suffers,  at  the  behest  of  fancied  self-interest,  and  of 
party  ends, 

40.  Duties  to  God. — Obedience:  "The  fear 
of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom ;  a  good 
understanding  have  all  they  that  do  his  command- 
ments."    (Psalm  1 1 1 :  10.) 


DUTIES   TO  GOD.  IJD 

Prayer :  Prayer  proceeds  from  a  native  desire  of 
the  soul  for  Supreme  aid.  In  times  of  spiritual  and 
temporal  poverty,  we  call  upon  God  for  his  favor  and 
blessing.  It  is  the  natural  outflow  of  the  needy 
soul,  under  a  great  realization  of  its  wants,  seeking 
help  from  the  highest  source  ;  and  this  naturally  be- 
comes habitual,  as  the  experiences  of  the  Father's 
mercies  and  confidence  in  him  are  multiplied  and 
enlarged.      Hence  the  duty  of  prayer. 

The  Lord  Jesus  has  given  us  an  appropriate  form  : 
"Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven"  (Matthew  6 : 
9-13).  He  has  aiso  emphasized  the  duty  of  prayer 
by  his  own  example — by  his  frequent,  natural  and 
earnest  use  of  this  means  of  communion  and 
communication  with  the  Father.  "  He  went  up  into 
a  mountain  apart  to  pray."  (Matthew  14:  23.)  He 
prayed  for  his  disciples."     (John  17.) 

Noted  Instances  of  Prayer:  Other  noted  in- 
stances are:  the  prayer  of  Moses  for  his  people  ;  the 
prayer  of  Solomon  at  the  dedication  of  the  temple. 
Daniel's  persistence  in  his  customary  prayers 
three  times  a  day,  in  face  of  the  decree  of  King 
Darius,  is  a  most  noted  instance  of  adherence  to 
duty,  and  of  great  and  good  results  arisino;  there- 
from.    (Daniel  6.) 

In  all  ages,  the  most  patriotic,  wise,  brave  and 
useful  men  have  been  men  of  prayer,  and  so  it  al- 
ways will  be. 

On    the  contrary,   there    are   those  who   inquire : 
"What  is   the  Almighty  that  we  should   serve   him, 
and  what  profit  should  we  have  if  we  pray  unto  him? 
(Job  21:  15.) 
9 


130         MORAL  AXD  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

These  are  they  who  are  lacking  in  natural  sensi- 
bilities, and  in  a  good  understanding. 

Praise:  "Let  my  mouth  be  filled  with  thy 
praise,  to  give  unto  them  beauty  for  ashes:  the  oil 
of  joy  for  mourning:  the  garment  of  praise  for  the 
spirit  of  heaviness."     (Isaiah  6i  :  3.) 

In  scripture  the  duty  of  praise  is  everywhere  in- 
sisted on  ;  he  who  has  no  feeling  for  praise  is  de- 
ficient in  the  finer  sensibilities  of  our  nature. 

If  a  man  utter  some  noble  or  generous  sentiment 
in  accord  with  human  nature,  or  do  some  worthy 
deed,  the  people  praise  him  :  it  is  natural  that  they 
should.  Not  less  so  is  it,  or  should  it  be,  when  we 
realize  the  goodness  of  the  Father. 

Trnc  ivorsJiip  has  been  briefly  considered  under 
the  second  commandment.    (Section  34.) 

When  men  consider  the  earth,  the  heavens,  all 
things  therein — the  related  parts,  the  harmony — 
they  are  convinced  that  one  intelligence  made  all : 
that  God  is  One. 

The  duty  of  love  for  God  in  whom  there  is  con- 
stitutionally the  true,  the  right,  the  good — loving 
these  qualities  and  hating  the  contra  ones  I  Without 
this  spiritual  view  of  God  it  were  vain  to  say  that 
we  love  God,  for  if  we  love  him  we  must  love  him 
in  his  true  character,  not  only  as  great  and  good, 
but  as  the  Lord  of  all  who  governs  the  universe  in 
righteousness. 

Our  obedience  must  antedate  as  well  as  e\idence 
our  love.  In  obedience  fear  gives  place  to  love — 
love  is  the  ultimate  and  the  crowning  dut)- — or  rather 


nrriEs  to  aon.  i;ji 

it  is  that  state  of  the  soul  to  which  all  other  du- 
ties done  lead  us. 

These  soul-elements — obedience,  fear,  reverence, 
true  woiship,  love — are  assisted,  purified  and  inten- 
sified by  a  survey  of  nature — the  heavens,  the  earth 
— the  sublimest  of  all  phenomena  presented  to  our 
sense-faculties. 

Duties  to  God,  then,  as  religious  and  moral,  are 
first  in  time  and  in  value,  in  the  formation  of  char- 
acter. And  these  duties  are  seen  to  multiply  and 
to  grow  broad  and  deep  in  proportion  as  the  facul- 
ties of  the  soul  are  enlarged  and  cultivated  by  the 
study  and  the  appreciation  of  the  natural  and  the 
spiritual  in  God's  universe. 

To  quote  a  fine  passage : 

"  The  reverent  mind  sees  God  in  all  his  works. 
The  eternal  hills  are  his  strength  ;  the  clouds  are 
his  chariot ;  the  lightnings  are  his  arrows  ;  the  thun- 
der is  his  voice.  .  In  the  impassioned  language  of 
sacred  poetry,  even  inanimate  nature  fears  and 
adores  her  God. 

"He  touches  the  hills  and  they  smoke, 
At  his  going  forth,  the  pillars  of  heaven 

tremble  and  are  astonished. 
The  deep  uttereth  his  voice 

and  lifteth  up  his  hands  on  high." 

Faith  is  implicit  confidence  and  trust  in  God — 
that  we  should  do  his  w  ill.  Scripture  examples  of 
faith  we  have  in  Abraham,  whose  faith  "was  counted 
unto  him  for  righteousness:"  and  in  the  centurion 
at   Capernauni,  of  whom    Jesus    said:  "  I    have  not 


132         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

found  SO  great  faith,  no,  not  in  Israel ;"  also  in  He- 
brews xi  are  numerous  examples,  and  in  many  other 
noted  instances,  the  nature  of  faith  and  its  excel- 
lences are  exhibited.  This  faith  is  enkindled  by 
hope,  is  enlightened  and  enlarged  by  the  reason  and 
intensified  by  love. 

Faith  in  God  arises  primarily  from  a  constitutional 
provision  whereby  we  have  confidence  in  him  who 
has  not  deceived  us.  We  cannot  question  the  wis- 
dom nor  the  sincerity  of  God,  and  so  we  intuitively 
see  that  he  is  worthy  of  faith,  and  if  our  will  is 
good  we  gladly  obey  him. 

To  exercise  faith  in  God  and  to  obey  him  are  in- 
separable acts.  If  we  obey  not,  we  have  not  faith  ; 
if  we  have  not  faith,  we  do  not  obey. 

"  Now  faith  is  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for, 
the  evidence  of  things  not  seen."  (Hebrews  ii  :  i.) 
That  is,  we  realize  that  the  visions  of  hope  have 
foundations  ;  seen  w  ith  the  eye  of  faith  they  become 
real,  and  we  hope  for  a  happy  issue  out  of  all  the 
trials  of  earth  into  a  joyful  state  immortal. 

Only  a  living  faith'  arising  from  the  love  of  di- 
vine things  can  assure  us  that  this  is  not  a  vain 
hope. 

Hope  is  the  expectation  with  varied  degrees  of 
confidence  of  things  desired.  If  these  are  things 
heavenly,  hope  leads  to  a  pure  life.  "And  every 
man  that  hath  this  hope  in  him  purificth  himself, 
even  as  he  is  pure."     (l  John  3  : 3.) 

The  Father  "hath  begotten  us  again  unto  a  lively 
hope."  (l  Peter  i  :  3,  4.)  The  ground  of  the  hope 
here  referred  to  is  "the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ;" 


DUTIES   TO  GOD.  133 

and  the  object  of  the  hope  is,  "iin  inheritance  incor- 
ruptible." 

In  Romans  \\  the  object  of  hope  is  "peace  with 
God  "  and  the  i^lory  therewith,  and  the  ground  of 
this  hope  is  "  justification  by  faith  through  our 
Lord:"  also  this  hope  arises  from  our  experience 
through  patience  and  tribulations. 

This  hope  having  origin  in  the  exercises  of  the 
soul  herein  named,  including  the  love  of  God  shed 
abroad  in  our  hearts,  is  not  a  shamefaced  hope,  but 
imparts  courage  and  shields  us  like  the  armor  of  an 
armed  man:  thus  (i  Thessalonians  5:8)  "for  an 
helmet,  the  hope  of  salvation,"  and  it  gives  safety  as 
in  this  other  metaphor  (Hebrews  6:19),  "Which 
hope  we  have  as  an  anchor  of  the  soul  both  sure 
and  steadfast."  But  "  the  hypocrite's  hope  shall 
perish;  "  thus  it  is  that  both  faith  and  hope  are  in- 
nate states,  conditions  and  faculties  of  the  soul  on 
which,  aided  by  our  understanding  and  the  reason, 
we  largely  depend  in  our  cognition  of  the  divine 
attributes. 

In  its  application  to  men  and  to  worldly  affairs, 
faith  has  its  source  more  in  the  reason,  less  in  feel- 
ing. 

"Faith  is  the  inner  ear  of  the  Spirit  which  is 
open  to,  catches  up  and  retains  the  imparted  word 
of  a  higher  revelation.  Hope,  however,  is  the  eye, 
whose  clear  vision  discerns  even  in  the  remote  dis- 
tance the  objects  of  its  profound  and  ardent  long- 
ing."    {Sc/ilcgii.) 

Hope  presupposes  the  existence  of  faith  ami 
brings  us  to  a  thoroughly  \i\  id    idea  of  it  — no  arbi- 


134         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

trary  and  artificial  idea,  but  one  real  and  vital. 
While  faith  and  hope  are  primarily  of  the  soul, 
scripture  everywhere  recognizes  the  value  of  the 
reason  as  an  element  in  it. 

"  Ready  always  to  give  a  reason  of  the  hope  that 
is  in  you."  (i  Peter  3:15.)  For  the  matter  of  the 
revelation,  the  object  of  it,  and  the  philosophy  in  it, 
all  will  accord  with  man's  nature  and  with  sound 
reason.  But  as  man's  reason  is  often  at  fault  logi- 
cally, and  also  as  in  the  pursuit  of  science,  we  meet 
with  questions  the  understanding  cannot  fathom,  so 
it  is  the  part  of  sound  reasoning  to  expect  in  true 
religion  to  meet  with  doctrines  beyond  present  com- 
prehension. 

The  visions,  promises  and  judgments  of  Isaiah 
and  the  other  great  prophets  abound  in  reasoning; 
thus  in  Isaiah  i  :  18  :  "  Come  now  and  let  us  reason 
together,  saith  the  Lord."  "Hast  thou  not  known: 
hast  thou  not  heard  that  the  everlasting  God,  the 
Lord,  the  creator  of  the  ends  of  the  earth,  fainteth 
not,  neither  is  weary  ?  Even  the  youths  shall  faint 
and  be  weary,  but  they  that  wait  upon  the  Lord 
shall  renew  their  strength."     (Isaiah  40:  28-31.) 

The  grand  thoughts  of  King  David  show  how 
largely  the  intellect  contributes  to  deep  spiritu- 
ality. 

"When  I  survey  thy  heavens,  thj  handiwork, 
The  moon,  the  stars,  tlioii  ditlst  of  old  ordain, 
Man,  what  is  he,  that  thou  Ibr  him  sluiuldst  eare  ? 
The  Son  of  man,  that  tlioii  shouliisl  visit  ium!" 

The  ethic-charactcr  of  faith  and  hope  lies  in 
the  relation  they   have   to  a   high   plane   in   morals, 


IXniVllHAL   D17/ES.  1:55 

and  as  being  necessary  elements  in  religion,  and  also 
in  the  ordinary  transactions  and  duties  of  life.  Our 
affections,  motives,  aspirations  and  acts  are  modified 
— are  ennobled  or  are  debased  by  the  quality  of  our 
faith  and  hope. 

DMics  to  man  necessarily  accompany  and  run 
parallel  ;  but  are  second  in  time  and  in  eminence. 

It  is  often  said  that  duty  done  to  man  is  duty  to 
God.  True — and  it  is  also  true  that  the  man  of  na- 
tive kindly  disposition — even  though  not  well  in- 
formed as  to  his  relation  and  duty  to  God— will  yet 
love  his  neighbor  ;  but  if  his  native  disposition  be 
selfish,  nothing  short  of  a  conviction  of  duty  to 
God  will  correct  it,  and  3ield  as  fruit,  "  duty  to 
man." 

Most  duties  to  men  are  seen  from  reflection  on 
reciprocal  relations,  under  the  impulse  of  a  good  will. 
Time  is  required  for  their  development  and  clear 
cognition.  "  Fear  God  and  keep  his  commandments, 
for  this  is  the  whole  duty  of  man."  (Ecclesiastes 
12:13.) 

41.  INDIVIDU.A.L  Duties. — Self-preservation  is  a 
natural  instinct  in  animals,  man  included  ;  but 
man's  duty  is  to  make  use  of  his  intelligence. 

Health :  Without  health  a  man  accomplishes 
little,  and  he  will  have  little  comfort  of  life.  Its 
preservation,  then,  is  a  prime  duty.    The  old  sa^'ing, 

"  Early  to  hfci  ;uul  larly  to  rise," 

is  certainly  true  as  to  a  life  of  physical  toil,  in  which 
little  can   be  done  w  ithout  an  early  start.     The  lost 


i:5G  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

hours  of  the  morning  cannot  be  overtaken,  and  na- 
ture has  so  ordered  it  that  the  improvement  of  these 
early  hours  is  most  conducive  to  health. 

As  to  whether  the  like  regularity  of  hours  for 
work  and  sleep  can  be  maintained  in  literary  and  in 
professional  toil  is  another  question.  Certainly  the 
environments  of  professional  life  do  not  admit  of  so 
even  a  uniformity  in  the  distribution  of  time. 

Self-cxainincUiiVi  requires  great  moral  courage. 
We  dislike  to  enter  upon  a  w^ork  likely  to  in\'olve 
self-condemnation ;  we  prefer  to  think  well  of  our- 
selves. We  know  that  our  conduct  ought  to  be 
such  as  we  can  approve,  but  this  can  be  attained  to 
only  by  self-examination  through  the  conscience. 
"  Herein  do  I  exercise  myself,  to  have  always  a  con- 
science void  of  offence  towards  God  and  towards 
men."     (Acts  24:  16.) 

It  is  human  to  err ;  it  is  manly  to  acknowledge 
our  errors  to  ourselves  and  to  God  ;  also  to  men 
when  the  nature  of  the  case  requires  it.  "  Have 
courage  to  review  your  own  conduct  ;  to  condemn 
it  where  you  detect  faults;  to  amend  it  to  the  best  of 
your  ability  ;  to  make  good  resolutions  for  future 
guidance,  and  to  keep  them." 

The  Duty  of  Laboi- :  There  is  dignity  in  labor, 
when  performed  with  a  cheerful  mind ;  and  there  is 
duty  when  it  is  done  for  our  own  support,  or  for 
that  of  those  dependent  on  us. 

Honest  labor,  too,  promotes  health  as  well  as 
thrift,  and  is  irksome  only  to  those  who  think  more 
of  evanescent  pleasures  than  of  solid  duty. 

Labor  was  ennobled  w  hen  the  Lord  appointed  it 


INDIVIDUAL  DUTIES.  137 

for  the  first  man  Adam,  while  he  was  yet  innocent 
and  obedient.  "And  the  Lord  God  took  the  man, 
and  put  him  into  the  garden  of  Eden,  to  dress 
it,  and  to  keep  it."     (Genesis  2  :  15.) 

The  farm  and  the  garden  is  the  field  of  toil  for  a 
large  part  of  mankind — and  no  more  healthful  em- 
ployment can  be  found.  Though  the  crop  be  sub- 
ject to  vicissitudes,  yet  this  promise  holds  good: 
"  While  the  earth  remaineth,  seed-time  and  harvest, 
and  cold  and  heat,  and  summer  and  winter,  and  day 
and  night  shall  not  cease."     (Genesis  8  :  22.) 

Labor  gives  necessary  exercise  to  the  several  or- 
gans of  the  body,  promoting  secretions,  and  the 
casting  off  the  refuse  of  material  that  has  been  used 
in  the  maintenance  and  growth  of  the  physical 
organism. 

What  gives  additional  value  and  zest  to  labor  is 
that  law  of  nature  that  nothing  we  need  can  be 
produced  without  it.  True,  some  fruits  good  for 
food  grow  spontaneously,  but  these  are  only  a  small 
fraction  in  man's  requirements. 

The  manufacture  of  suitable  clothing  and  of  very 
many  useful  articles  largely  extends  the  field  of 
labor.  Some  of  these  kinds  of  work  are  not  so  pro- 
motive of  health,  and  though  not  to  be  shunned, 
they  must  be  supplemented  by  healthful  exercise. 
As  to  mental  effort,  Juvenal  points  out  that  for 
success,  "  There  should  be  a  sound  mind  in  a  sound 
body."  This  maxim  should  apply  also  to  the  uioral, 
for  without  a  sound  body,  moral  courage  and  power 
is  crippled. 

"  I  cannot  too  much  impress  upon  your  mind  that 


138  MORAL  AND  RELKilOUS  SCIENCE. 

labor  is  the  condition  which  God  has  imposed  on 
us  in  every  station  of  hfe — there  is  nothing  worth 
having  that  can  be  had  without  it,  from  the  bread 
which  the  peasant  wins  with  the  sweat  of  his  brow, 
to  the  sports  by  which  the  rich  man  must  get  rid  of 
his  ennui.  The  only  difference  between  them  is, 
that  the  poor  man  labors  to  get  a  dinner  to  his  appe- 
tite ;  the  rich  man,  to  get  an  appetite  to  his  dinner. 
As  for  knowledge,  it  can  no  more  be  planted  in  the 
human  mind  without  labor  than  a  field  of  wheat 
can  be  produced  without  the  previous  use  of  the 
plough.  There  is  indeed  this  great  difference,  that 
chance  or  circumstances  may  so  cause  it  that  an- 
other shall  reap  what  the  farmer  sows  ;  but  no  man 
can  be  deprived,  whether  by  accident  or  misfortune, 
of  the  fruits  of  his  own  studies;  and  the  liberal  and 
extended  acquisitions  of  knowledge  which  he  makes 
are  all  for  his  own  use.  Labor,  my  dear  boy,  there- 
fore, and  improve  the  time.  In  youth  our  steps  are 
light,  and  our  minds  are  ductile,  and  knowledge  is 
easily  laid  up.  But  if  we  neglect  our  spring,  our 
summer  will  be  useless  and  contemptible,  our  har- 
vest will  be  chaff,  and  the  winter  of  our  old  age 
unrespectcd  and  desolate." — IVaZ/rr  Scott  to  his 
son. 

Work:  "There  is  a  perennial  nobleness,  and 
even  sacredness,  in  work.  Were  he  never  so  be- 
nighted, forgetful  of  his  high  calling,  there  is  always 
hope  in  a  man  that  actually  and  earnestly  works ;  in 
idleness  alone  is  there  perpetual  despair.  Blessed  is 
he  who  has  found  his  work;  let  him  ask  no  other 
blessedness.     He  has  a  work,  a  life-purpose  ;  he  has 


INDIVIDUAL  DUTIES.  139 

found  it,  and  will  follow  it !  How,  as  a  free  flowing 
channel,  dug  and  torn  by  noble  force  through  the 
sour  mud-swamp  of  one's  existence,  like  an  ever- 
deepening  river  there,  it  runs  and  flows,  draining  off 
the  sour  festering  water  gradually  from  the  root  of 
the  remotest  grass  blade,  making,  instead  of  pesti- 
lential swamp,  a  green  fruitful  meadow  with  its 
clear  flowing  stream." — Carlylc. 

The  Ethics  of  the  Voeation:  To  have  a  vocation 
of  some  sort  is  held  to  be  necessary.  Even  princes 
are  taught  a  trade  by  which  they  can  earn  a  liveli- 
hood, if  need  be. 

One's  vocation  is  in  accord  w  ith  moral  law  when 
that  which  is  produced  by  the  practice  of  it  is  for 
the  good  of  man ;  and  it  is  contra  to  moral  law 
when  harmful  to  man's  physical  or  moral  constitu- 
tion. The  chief  use  of  tobacco  is  for  chewing  and 
smoking;  and  of  whiskey  is  for  drink.  These  uses 
in  general  are  very  detrimental.  These  habits  are 
not  only  injurious  to  man,  but  they  are  expensive. 
The  manufacture  and  sale,  then,  of  these  articles  for 
the  purposes  named  is  labor  worse  than  useless;  and 
to  engage  in  it  as  a  vocation  is  to  follow  a  calling 
that  tends  to  degradation  of  character — to  poverty 
and  crime.  It  would  be  a  vocation  destitute  of 
ethic  character. 

So  whatever  we  do,  the  morality  of  it  must  be 
measured  by  its  tendency  to  promote  good  or  e\  11 ; 
and  the  moral  character  of  the  individual  tloer — 
whether  capitalist  or  laborer — is  measured  by  the 
extent  of  knowledge  he  has,  or  ought  to  have,  of  the 
effect  he  is  producing  as  good  (^r  bad. 


140         MORAL  AXD  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

It  becomes,  then,  the  duty  of  each  and  all,  well  to 
consider  the  tendency,  the  moral  tendency,  of  his 
vocation. 

The  Ethics  of  Habit :  Were  we  perfect  in  mo- 
rality, \ve  should  not  need  to  look  to  habit  as  an 
auxiliary  to  virtue  ;  but  since  the  most  sure-footed 
are  liable  to  stumble,  we  need  to  cultivate  a  sure 
habit  of  erect  carriage  and  firmness  in  our  walk ; 
namely,  we  need  to  be  habitually  on  our  guard 
against  the  seductive  influences  of  vice,  and  thus 
we  shall  with  ease  resist  temptation,  because  we 
have  accustomed  ourselves  to  do  it.  It  has  become 
a  habit  with  us — a  second  nature — for  us  to  say  no, 
no,  no  to  the  overtures  of  the  tempter. 

There  is  no  moral  virtue  in  the  habit  itself;  the 
moral  virtue  is  in  the  man  who  has  acquired  the 
habit.  The  ethic-character,  then,  in  our  habits  is  in 
the  formation  and  application  of  good  habits  as  aids 
to  virtue.  If  we  neglect  this  watchfulness  over  our 
walk  and  conversation,  we  shall  fall  into  and  become 
accustomed  to  bad  habits.  Pope  forcibly  expresses 
it  thus: 

•'  Vice  is  a  monster  of  so  frightful  mien. 
As,  to  be  hated,  needs  but  to  be  seen; 
Yet,  seen  too  oft,  familiar  with  her  face, 
We  first  endure,  then  pity,  then  embrace." 

— Essay  on  Man. 

"  Crimes  lead  to  crimes,  and  link  so  straight, 
What  first  was  arcidcnf,  at  last  \9.  fate, 
The  unhappy  servant  sinks  into  a  slave, 
Aiui  virtue's  last  sad  strugglings  cannot  save." 

—Mallet. 


INDIVIDUAL  DUTIES.  141 

•'  Watcli  _ve,  and  pray.  Ics^t  \e  enter  into  temptation."  (Mark 
14  :  ,38.) 

Temperance  :  "  How  blest  the  sparing  meal  and 
temperate  bowl  I  "  The  advantage  of  temperance 
as  a  means  of  health  is  that  everyone,  the  poor  as 
well  as  the  rich,  can  })ractice  it  at  all  times  and  in  all 
places.  It  does  not  oblige  us  to  spend  time  and 
money  at  Saratoga,  the  Hot  Springs,  Newport,  and 
other  resorts  of  health  and  pleasure  seekers. 

If  labor  gives  necessary  exercise  to  the  bodily 
organs,  and  tends  to  cast  out  the  refuse  of  material 
used  in  their  growth,  temperance  tends  to  a  mini- 
mum in  the  accumulation  of  what  nature  rejects, 
and  so  does  not  overtax  her  powers. 

Exercise  promotes  circulation,  but  temperance 
gives  free  course  to  it,  and  thus  there  is  force  and 
vigor  in  it. 

Every  kind  of  animal  save  man  is  limited  by  its 
own  nature  in  its  range  of  food,  and  so  is  not  liable 
to  suffer  from  a  surfeit ;  but  man's  constitution  is 
adapted  to  very  many  kinds  of  food — to  fish,  flesh 
and  the  fruits  of  the  earth  ;  hence  he  has  need  to 
use  discretion — to  restrain  his  appetite,  and  to  exer- 
cise the  virtue  of  temperance  in  the  use  of  food  as 
to  quality  and  quantity. 

Temperance  in  eating  and  drinking  and  in  every- 
thing promotes  longevity.  The  intemperate  arc 
sure  to  shorten  their  days ;  temperance  also  pro- 
motes thrift,  and  adds  value  to  every  material  kind 
of  prosperity.  Rut  these  are  not  the  only  or  the 
chief  advantages  of  temperance. 

It  affects  the  moral  and  religious  interests  of  man  ; 


142  MORAL  AXD  h' ELK, IOCS  SCIENCE. 

is  a  sine  qua  iioii  in  the  attainment  of  a  character  ac- 
ceptable to  the  Lord  of  all.  Paul  preached  temper- 
ance as  one  of  the  cardinal  doctrines.  "And  as  he 
reasoned  of  righteousness,  temperance,  and  judg- 
ment to  come,  Felix  trembled.     (Acts  24:25.) 

The  Temper :  The  ethic-character  as  regards  the 
temper  is  in  its  government  from  a  sense  of  duty; 
while  a  bad  temper  is  a  source  of  unhappiness  to  the 
person  who  has  it,  it  is  also  a  source  of  great  annoy- 
ance to  all  who  come  in  contact  with  its  unfortunate 
and  culpable  possessor. 

Duty,  then,  to  those  related  to  us — husband  or 
wife,  father,  mother,  child,  friend,  neighbor — all,  re- 
quires that  if  we  have  the  besetting  sin  of  a  fault- 
finding, hasty,  peevish  or  ill-governed  temper,  we 
should  at  once  set  about  to  rectify  and  govern  it. 

Religion:  Man  is  by  nature  religious,  and  is  at 
times  sensible  that  he  is  subject  to  and  should  be  in 
accord  with  some  supreme  power  known  or  un- 
known. 

Seeing  that  he  is  the  possessor  of  a  religious  na- 
ture, there  arises  then  the  question  of  duty:  What 
shall  be  done  with  this  possession  ?  As  the  owner  of 
houses,  he  feels  bound  to  keep  them  in  repair,  and  to 
collect  the  rents — of  lands;  to  cultivate  them  as  best 
he  can,  to  secure  abundant  harvests;  and,  in  gen- 
eral, as  a  business  man,  to  make  wise  arrangements 
— to  foot  up  figures  correctly,  and  balance  his 
books.  So  also  he  readily  sees  the  need  and  use  of 
intellectual  and  moral  culti\'ation  for  the  attainment 
of  a  happy  life. 

But  if  by  nature  religious,  ought   he   not  to  apply 


TXDiviDiAL  nrriEs.  ii;j 

his  trained  rational  and  moral  nature  to  the  discovery 
of  true  reliction,  so  that  the  entire  man — the  religious 
nature  as  well  as  the  physical,  intellectual  and  mor- 
al— shall  be  duly  cultivated  and  developed? 

Ther-  can  be  no  question  as  to  this  obligation  and 
duty  when  slated  as  an  abstract  proposition.  The 
questioning  arises  when  the  method  of  discovery  is 
considered.  But  the  method,  whether  short  or  long, 
involves  necessary  and  universal  principles. 

TiDic — the  Ethics  of  Its  Use  :  There  are  two  views 
of  the  use  of  time,  each  having  its  own  ethic-char- 
acter. One  relates  to  diligence  in  its  use,  the  other 
to  the  quality  of  our  employments.  "  Seize  upon 
the  present  moment ;  trust  little  to  the  morrow^" 
is  the  injunction  of  Horace,  while  the  "  Course  of 
Time  "  reads : 

"Be  \vise  today,  'tis  madness  to  defer: 
Next  day  the  fatal  precedent  will  plead; 
Thus  on,  till  wisdom  is  pushed  out  of  life. 
Procrastination  is  the  thief  of  time." 

"We  all  of  us  complain  of  the  shortness  of  time," 
saith  Seneca,  and  yet  have  much  more  than  we  know 
what  to  do  with.  "  Our  lives,"  says  he,  "are  spent 
either  in  doing  nothing  at  all,  or  in  doing  nothing  to 
the  purpose,  or  in  doing  nothing  that  we  ought  to 
do.  We  are  always  complaining  our  days  are  few, 
and  acting  as  though  there  would  be  no  end  of  them. 
Though  w^e  seemed  grieved  at  the  shortness  of  life 
in  general,  we  are  wishing  every  period  of  it  at  an 
end.  The  minor  longs  to  be  at  age,  then  to  be  a 
man  of  business,  then  to  make  up  an  estate,  then  to 


14t  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

arrive  at  honors,  then  to  retire.  Thus,  although  the 
whole  Hfe  is  allowed  by  everyone  to  be  short,  the 
several  divisions  of  it  appear  long  and  tedious. 

The  Remedy:  "  The  social  virtues  may  give  em- 
ployment to  the  most  industrious  temper,  and  find 
a  man  in  business  more  than  the  most  active  station 
in  life. 

To  advise  the  ignorant,  relieve  the  needy,  comfort 
the  afflicted,  are  duties  that  fall  in  our  way  almost 
every  day  of  our  lives.  The  remedy  has  reference 
to  quality. 

The  Ethics  of  Observation:  Our  duty  is  to  ob- 
serve those  passing  events  as  well  as  to  study  those 
great  events  that  will  serve  to  enlarge  our  experience 
in  regard  to  what  will  be  useful  to  ourselves  and 
others. 

This  forbids  wasting  time  upon  the  observation  of 
things  unimportant  or  frivolous ;  not  that  all  in 
every  station  in  life  are  bound  to  give  particular  at- 
tention to  the  same  things.  The  range  of  observa- 
tion must  be  measured  in  part  by  the  work  we  have 
marked  out  for  ourselves,  our  calling,  our  employ- 
ment in  life. 

To  the  prince  proud  of  his  success  as  a  charioteer, 
and  looking  for  praise  :  "Expect  no  praise  from  me," 
his  sire  replied ;  "the  skill  that  guides  the  chariot- 
wheel  back  in  its  own  self-same  track  —  that  skill,  if 
well  applied,  would  rule  a  State." 

The  events  of  the  times  and  the  signs  of  the 
times  should  be  noticed,  that  we  may  be  prepared 
to  act  intelligently  when  the  time  for  action  oc- 
curs. 


IX DIVIDUAL  DUTIES.  145 

The  Ethics  of  Taste  and  Culture:  While  the 
study  of  the  fine  arts  —  music,  painting,  sculpture 
and  poetry  —  has  a  humanizing  effect  and  is  an  im- 
portant element  in  man's  moral  and  religious  educa- 
tion, one  feature  of  its  ethic-character  is  in  the  fact 
that  a  relish  for  the  study  of  the  fine  arts  and  po- 
lite literature  is  a  source  of  innocent  amusement, 
unbends  the  mind  wearied  in  the  ordinary  pursuits 
of  life  and  professional  toil,  and  counteracts  all  ten- 
dency to  coarse  and  vulgar  pleasures. 

The  many  advantages  to  be  derived  from  cultiva- 
tion of  taste  are  admirably  exhibited  by  Dr.  Hugh 
Blair  in  his  Lectures  on  Rhetoric: 

Decision  of  Character :  This  means  a  readiness 
in  determining  what  we  will  do.  Decision  and  in- 
decision depend  upon  the  energy  of  the  will,  and  that 
largely  upon  the  influences  brought  to  bear  upon  it. 

Napoleon  I  was  of  quick  perception  and  judgment. 
This,  in  conjunction  with  a  willing  mind  to  act  in 
accord  therewith,  produced  instant  and  habitual  de- 
cision, decision  of  character.  This  he  manifested  at 
the  beginning  of  his  career,  thus:  "October  4,  1795, 
he  received  the  command  of  the  garrison  of  Paris, 
and  the  next  day  he  cleared  the  streets  with  grape- 
shot  ;  pursued  the  rioters  into  their  hiding  places ; 
disbanded  the  national  guard ;  disarmed  the  popu- 
lace, and  ended  the  French  Revolution." 

The  same  decision  marked  his  victorious  career. 
His  power  of  combination  won  the  battle  before  it 
was  fought. 

George  Washington  was  not  so  quick  in  judg- 
ment ;  but  his  judgments  were  in  a  much  higher  de- 
10 


146         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

gree  modified  and  fortified  by  moral  considerations ; 
hence  the  end  of  his  career  was  in  accord  with  that 
of  a  true  man ;  and  will  forever  shine  with  a  halo 
of  light,  while  Napoleon's  star  went  down  in  dark- 
ness at  midday. 

A  high  moral  element  must  be  conjoined  to  quick 
intellectual  faculties  to  secure  a  decision  of  charac- 
ter fruitful  in  good  works.  Great  men  have  not  a 
monopoly  of  these  qualities  ;  they  often  adorn  men 
and  women  in  the  humbler  walks  of  life,  and  it  is  the 
duty  of  everyone  to  attain,  so  far  as  is  practicable,  to 
this  valuable  kind  of  decision  by  cultivating  his 
judgment-faculties  and  moral  perceptions.  Decision 
of  character  distinguishes  any  young  man  who  is 
able  to  deny  all  allurements  to  intemperance  or  to 
any  other  vice. 

Discipline:  What  we  do  should  be  well  done. 
This  is  a  primal  maxim  in  mental  and  also  in  mili- 
tary discipline.  Napoleon  I  was  exacting  in  military 
drill  and  reviews.  Not  anything  unsoldicrlike  es- 
caped his  eye,  even  to  a  missing  button  on  a  man's 
coat. 

In  every  department  of  duty  a  liabit  of  slovenly 
work  is  to  be  deprecated.  It  will  follow  us  through 
life,  and  in  a  measure  defeat  the  ends  of  it. 

To  do  good  work  we  need  do  one  thing  at  a  time, 
so  as  to  have  the  mind  on  it  till  it  is  done  ;  other- 
wise time  is  lost  in  passing  from  one  thing  to  an- 
other, and  your  work  will  go  back  on  you  ;  for  you 
cannot  at  once  again  enter  upon  it,  under  the  favor- 
ing circumstances  you  left  it  in. 

There  are,   of  course,  exceptions  to   this  general 


PARENTAL  DUTIES.  147 

rule ;  yet  there  needs  to  be  a  plan  of  work  and  duty 
for  efficiency  in  execution.  "Make  hay  while  the 
sun  shines  "  is  an  old  and  wise  maxim.  We  must 
be  on  the  lookout  for  the  right  opportunity  to  ac- 
complish a  desired  result. 

Hence  attention  to  passing  events  is  necessary  to 
success. 

"  There  is  a  tide  in  the  affairs  of  men, 
Which,  taken  at  the  flood,  leads  on  to  fortune." 

We  may  be  sure  that  in  so  far  as  we  fail  to  dis- 
cipline ourselves  by  our  wits,  we  shall  be  disciplined 
by  misfortune,  suffering  and  punishment. 

42.  Parental  Duties. — Parental  authority  is 
founded  in  the  loving  relation  of  the  father  and 
mother  to  the  child,  as  the  authors  of  its  being — 
hence  cannot  in  all  respects  be  defined  by  any  cer- 
tain rule  or  law.  Affection  under  the  guide  of  care 
and  wisdom  makes  the  rule. 

The  old  Roman  law  gave  to  the  father  the  power 
of  life  and  death  over  his  child  ;  but  there  is  no  law 
in  nature  for  this  unwarranted  exercise  of  power. 
The  function  of  civil  law  is  rather  to  limit  the  abuse 
of  parental  authority  and  government ;  for  the  par- 
ent himself,  if  ill-bred  and  not  under  self-restraint, 
may  exceed  his  right.  It  is  evident  he  has  no  right 
to  require  his  child  to  do  anything  morally  wrong, 
nor  to  constrain  its  conscience,  though  the  con- 
science may  be  instructed. 

In  general,  the  parent  should  exercise  a  firm  rule: 
not     necessarily    a     harsh     one.       i\    kind    manner 


148         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

makes  home  for  the  child  pleasant  ;  and  this  is  a 
great  restraint  against  the  allurements  of  bad  com- 
panions on  the  street.  But  when  loving  words  and 
deeds  fail,  severity  must  be  used — even  the  rod 
of  correction. 

Children,  too,  have  rights  as  well  as  parents — the 
right  to  credit  for  truth  till  forfeited  by  habitual 
falsehood.  By  doubting  words  and  looks,  the  truth- 
ful child  may  be  taught  deception.  Patience  is  a 
needful  duty  hard  to  exercise  about  the  little  trials 
of  the  tired  and  cross  child,  when  the  parent  also  is 
weary  from  the  real  duties  of  the  day ;  but  patience 
then  may  become  a  virtue. 

Scripture  best  sums  up  the  duties  of  parent  and 
child:  "Children,  obey  your  parents  in  the  Lord, 
for  this  is  right.  And  ye  fathers,  provoke  not  your 
children  to  wrath  ;  but  bring  them  up  in  the  nurture 
and  admonition  of  the  Lord."     (Ephesians  6:  i.) 

A  very  important  parental  duty  is  in  guarding  the 
youth  against  the  corrupting  influences  of  bad  com- 
panions, immoral  literature  and  pictures.  The  evil 
ways  of  bad  boys  are  numerous,  and  for  many  a  youth 
the  descent  into  them  is  easy.  There  are  honora- 
ble exceptions  ;  boys  and  young  men  to  whom  vice 
is  so  repulsive  that  they  cannot  be  induced  to  fol- 
low in  her  train.  But  this  scripture  is  true:  "  I^vil 
communications  corrupt  good  manners."  And  it  is 
also  true  that  when  evil  thoughts  and  speech  and 
bad  habits  have  once  obtained  a  foothold,  it  is  not 
easy  to  obtain  the  mastery  over  them. 

A  read}'  perception  of  right  and  wrong,  and  a 
prompt  determination  to  the  right, will  not  be  found 


SOCIAL  DUTIES.  149 

in  the  youth  who  allows  his  conscience  to  be  blunted 
by  evil  communications.     The  avenues  of  evil  must 
be  closed. 
•  Juvenal,  a  Pagan  moralist,  gives  this  advice  : 

"  Nil  dictu  foedum  visuque  hi«c  limina  tangat 
Intra  quae  puer  est."  Sat.  XIV,  44- 

Let  nothing  shameful  to  tell  and  to  be  seen, 
Enter  those  doors  within  which  a  child  dwells. 

43.  Social  Duties. — General  View:  Social  du- 
ties arise  from  the  relation  of  man  to  man  and  the 
varied  conditions  and  circumstances  under  which 
men  live. 

In  some  respects,  there  is  an  equality  of  condi- 
tion :  in  the  great  fundamental  principles  of  right 
and  justice,  all  stand  on  an  equal  footing.  "  The 
rich  and  poor  meet  together :  the  Lord  is  the 
maker  of  them  all."  (Proverbs  22  :  2.)  There  is  an 
equality  of  rights  ;  and  there  is  due  a  reciprocity  of 
duties ;  but  in  the  accidental  conditions  of  life  there 
is  diversity  and  contrast, — there  is  the  wise  and  there 
is  the  simple;  the  learned  and  the  ignorant;  the 
rich  and  the  poor;  the  strong  and  the  weak;  the 
moral  and  the  immoral. 

These  diversities  in  gifts  and  character  are  partly 
from  causes  too  recondite  to  be  seen  and  known  :  in 
part,  from  what  we  call  the  accidents  of  birtii  and  of 
life ;  and  in  large  part  they  result  from  the  use 
the  individual  makes  of  the  faculties  and  means  be- 
stowed upon  him  by  nature. 

Whatever   the    causes,  the   facts  exist,   and   need 


150         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

careful  consideration ;  hence  the  wide  scope  there  is 
for  the  exercise  of  the  better  feehngs  of  humanity 
in  social  duties. 

Friendships,  love  and  care  in  home  relations,  in 
business  and  civic  matters — the  affections  for  these 
obligations — we  have  by  nature.  They  are  natural 
affections  and  are  moral  in  an  elementary  sense. 
There  is  no  virtue  in  conformity  to  them.  There  is 
a  great  lack  of  virtue  in  the  neglect  of  them.  Vir- 
tue can  arise  only  when  the  exercise  of  the  nat- 
ural affections  is  accompanied  with  sacrifice  or  per- 
sonal danger,  as  in  warding  oft  harm  from  the  de- 
fenseless. 

Pliilantliropy,  Benevolence :  Love  to  man  and 
good-will  are  natural  affections  of  the  soul ;  and  if 
these  good  qualities  have  been  more  or  less  sup- 
planted by  contra  dispositions,  namely,  by  misan- 
thropy and  malevolence,  it  is  due  to  sin  and 
transgression,  and  argues  an  abnormal  state  of  the 
soul. 

"We  are  all  by  nature  brethren,  placed  in  the 
same  or  in  similar  circumstances,  subject  to  the 
same  wants  and  infirmities,  endowed  with  the  same 
faculties,  and  equally  dependent  on  the  great  Au- 
thor of  our  being;  we  cannot  be  happy  but  in  the 
society  of  one  another,  and  from  one  another  we 
daily  receive,  or  may  receive,  important  services. 
These  considerations  recommend  the  great  duty  of 
universal  benevolence,  which  is  not  more  beneficial  to 
others  than  to  ourselves;  for  it  makes  us  hapi)y  in 
our  own  minds,  and  amiable  in  the  minds  of  all 
who  know  us." — Beaitie,  in  Moral  Seioice. 


SOCIAL  DUTIES.  lol 


"And  now,  Philanthropy!  thy  rays  divine 
Dart  round  the  globe,  from  Zembla  to  the  Line; 
O'er  each  dark  prison  plavs  the  cheering  light 
Like  Northern  lustres  o'er  the  vault  of  night. 
From  realm  to  realm,  with  cross  or  crescent  crown'd, 
Where'er  Mankind  and  Misery  are  found, 
O'er  burning  sands,  deep  waves,  or  wilds  of  snow, 
Thy  Howard,  journeying,  seeks  the  house  of  woe. 
He  treads,  inemulous  of  fame  or  wealth. 
Profuse  of  toil,  and  prodigal  of  health. 
Leads  stern-eyed  Justice  to  the  dark  domains. 

If  not  to  sever,  to  relax  the  chains: 

Gives  to  her  babes  the  self-devoted  wife. 
To  her  fond  husband  liberty  and  life." 

—  Tlios.  Bro'vn. 

Hospitality :  Webster  defines  it,  "The  reception 
and  entertainment  of  strangers  or  guests  without 
reward,  or  with  kind  and  generous  Hberahty," 

This  virtue,  sentiment  and  idea  of  duty  is  native 
to  the  heart  of  humanity,  and  among  all  people  is 
very  generally  honored.  Exceptions  there  have 
been  and  are,  and  the  frown  of  disapproval  marks 
the  general  rule  and  law. 

Atrocious  instances  have  met  with  severe  rebuke 
and  punishment.  The  refusal  of  the  tribe  of  Benja- 
min to  deliver  up  to  merited  punishment  those 
vile  and  wicked  men  who  disgraced  all  Israel  by  a 
flagrant  violation  of  the  rights  and  duties  of  hospi- 
tality resulted  in  forty  thousand  slain  of  their  men 
of  war— all  the  tribe  but  six  hundred — a  remnant 
spared  that  the  tribe  might  not  be  extinguished. 

Among  many  noteworthy  instances  of  hospitality 
is  that  of  the  poor  negro  woman,  in  the  heart  of  Af- 
rica, towards  that  celebrated  explorer   Mungo  Park. 


152  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

We  have  a  striking  instance  of  the  fitness  and  beauty 
of  the  sentiment  and  duty  of  hospitality  in  Queen 
Dido's  word  of  welcome  to  /Eneas,  when,  after  the 
Trojan  disaster  and  a  tempestuous  voyage,  he,  with 
his  followers,  landed  upon  her  shores;  thus: 

"  Non  ignara  mali  miseris  succurrere  disco."    Lib.  i,  line  630. 
Not  ignorant  of  misfortune  I  learn  to  succour  the  unhappy. 

And  another  instance  in  the  friendly  greeting 
"What  cheer?"  with  which  Narragansett  Indians 
hailed  Roger  Williams,  as  his  canoe  approached  in 
search  of  a  settlement  which  he  made,  and  called 
Providence.  "Love  ye  the  stranger;  for  ye  were 
strangers  in  the  land  of  Egypt."  (Deuteronomy 
10:19.) 

44.  The  Ethics  of  Amusement.— That  we  are 
constituted  for  a  certain  degree  of  light  enjoyment 
is  evident  from  the  fondness  of  children  for  play  and 
of  youth  for  sports  and  games  of  various  kinds. 
Little  boys  love  to  contest  with  each  other  in  run- 
ning a  race.  They  delight  in  flying  a  kite,  especially 
\\  hen  grandpa  helps  them ;  and  the  larger  ones 
delight  in  the  bat  and  ball ;  and  the  girls  with  the 
boys,  great  and  small,  love  the  croquet  ground, 
lawn-tennis,  rowing  and  skating.  These  games  are 
exhilarating,  healthy,  and  quicken  and  invigorate 
the  powers  of  body,  soul  and  si:)irit.  \'ct  valuable 
amusements  can  be  degraded,  and  are  w  hen  the}-  are 
in(lu]!(cd  in  to  excess. 

In  games  there  is  a  desire  to  excel.  This  is  nat- 
ural  and    harmless  and    <nves  a  zest  to  the  amuse- 


THE  ETHICS  OF  AM  US  EM  ENT.  153 

ment,  when  this  is  a  simple  desire  for  the  supremacy 
unaccompanied  with  thoughts  or  feehngs  of  triumph 
over  the  defeat  of  contending  playmates;  but  the 
moment  there  enters  into  the  soul  a  pleasure  or  sat- 
isfaction from  the  chagrin  of  another,  or  the  moment 
that  the  desire  of  supremacy  is  carried  to  the  degree 
of  a  feeling  of  triumph  on  the  one  side,  and  of  pain 
on  the  other  side  from  defeat,  then  the  good  morals 
of  the  amusement  have  departed,  and  there  enters  a 
vicious  tendency.  Amusements,  to  be  moral,  must 
be  for  the  sake  of  the  amusement,  and  the  resulting 
good.  When  evil  results,  then  the}'  become  im- 
moral. Amusements  in  themselves  innocent  \\hen 
engaged  in  with  moderation,  in  a  temperate  manner, 
ma}-  become  evil  from  too  long  continuance,  excess 
of  zeal,  or  from  being  conjoined  with  bad  habits,  as 
the  use  of  slang  words,  coarse  jests,  or  vulgar  re- 
marks— even  to  profane  language ;  and  from  in- 
dulgence in  cheat,  fraud,  white-lies — all  which  tend 
to  accustom  one  to  bad  habits. 

There  is,  too,  another  point  of  view  that  shows  an 
ethic-character.  Some  persons  may  engage  in  amuse- 
ments who  have  no  difficulty  in  submitting  them- 
selves to  the  proper  restraints  of  reason  and  a  good 
conscience,  and  so  to  them  the  amusement  is  harm- 
less ;  but  more  persons  have  not  this  self-control,  and 
with  them  amusement  degenerates  into  vice.  Now, 
what  is  duty?  Doubtless  it  is  the  duty  of  the  self- 
poised,  those  who  can  amuse  themselves  innocently, 
to  forego  certain  amusements  provided  thereby  they 
can  help  their  weaker  friend  or  neighbor  to  recover 
from  a  bad  habit. 


104         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

Benevolence  and  good-will  require  self-sacrifice. 
There  is  the  duty  of  self-denial  even  as  to  things 
harmless.  My  neighbor  has  not  the  decision  and 
self-control  necessary  to  temperance  in  certain 
amusements.  He  must  then  abstain  entirely,  and  it 
is  my  duty  to  encourage  and  help  him  by  my  own 
entire  abstinence. 

This  is  an  ethic  aspect  in  application  to  viy  use 
or  disuse  of  certain  amusements — precisely  the  prin- 
ciple and  ethic  character  that  applies  to  temperance 
in  drink.  One  man  knows  how^  to  drink  pure  wine 
temperately  and  with  useful  effect ;  another  and  the 
major  part  do  not.  These  run  into  excess,  and 
so  the  good  becomes  bad.  This  is  the  ethic  princi- 
ple in  temperance  societies.  It  is  not  that  there  is 
no  good  in  any  of  the  beverages,  but  it  is  that  as 
this  good  is  not  essential  to  my  life  and  well-being,  I 
will  forego  it,  to  promote  the  good  of  my  neighbor. 
The  ethic  character  is  in  this  limitation. 

The  conclusion  must  be  that  amusements  may 
properly  be  indulged  in,  so  far  as  they  are  consistent 
with  the  duties  of  life,  are  subordinate  to  the  higher 
principles  of  life,  and  that  it  is  the  duty  of  each  one 
to  carefully  study  his  duty  in  this  comparative  view 
of  it. 


DIVISION   III.     POLITICAL  ETHICS. 

45.  General  View;  Si-ecial  ArPLiCATioN.— 
Political  ethics  ha\e  for  their  subject  moral  con- 
siderations in  the  conduct  of  the  municipal,  state 
and    national   affairs  of  the   people,  and    in  general 


POLITICAL  ETHICS;  GENERAL    VIEW.     155 

how  the  ends  of  justice  as  to  all  the  natural  rights 
of  the  people  are  to  be  attained,  in  the  enactment 
and  administration  of  law.  In  this  view,  if  it  ])c 
granted,  that  an  individual  has  obtained  rightful 
ownership  to  certain  lands  or  other  property,  it  is  a 
question  of  political  ethics,  under  what  limitations, 
if  any,  he  should  enjoy  this  right ;  for  instance,  to 
cite  Dr.  Lieber's  examples  :  "  Whether,  under  certain 
given  circumstances,  this  general  right  of  property 
is  best  secured  by  unlimited  possession  or  by  reverti- 
ble  titles,  as  was  the  case  in  the  Mosaic  law ;  whether 
the  general  principle  demands,  under  the  given 
circumstances,  that  the  accumulation  of  property  as 
well  as  its  division  should  be  unlimited  ;  or  whether 
itis  wise  to  prevent  division  below  a  certain  standard, 
as  is  the  case  in  Sweden  and  some  other  countries  ; 
or  prevent  accumulation  beyond  a  certain  limit,  as 
Solon  prescribed.  The  whole  great  question  of  con- 
stitutions with  respect  to  everything  that  is  not 
strictly  a  principle  of  natural  law — c.  g.,  protection 
of  personal  liberty,  of  freedom  from  molestation  as 
long  as  no  wrong  is  done,  of  a  degree  of  protection 
extended  even  to  the  evildoer,  and  while  we  bring 
him  to  punishment — belongs  Xo  political  ethics^ 

Other  questions  belonging  to  this  subject  are — 
how  long  ought  a  senator  or  a  peer  to  hold  office? 
For  six  years,  as  in  the  United  States  ;  for  life,  as  it 
was  in  France  ;  or  for  a  hereditar}-  period,  as  in  Eng- 
land ;  and  what  the  qualifications  for  the  office  ;  and 
is  it  ethical,  in  order  to  hold  on  to  an  order  of  suc- 
cession in  monarchical  governments,  to  have  the 
throne  occupied  by  a  female  monarch  ? 


156         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

The  moral  considerations  involved  in  these  and 
like  questions  are  recondite  and  beyond  the  limit  of 
this  inquiry. 

General  ethic  laws  and  considerations  must  guide 
in  the  solution  of  them  ;  but  they  cannot  be  speci- 
fically determined  except  in  the  light  of  facts  and 
experience. 

Political  ethics  is  applicable  to  international  law, 
an  extensive  subject  in  itself.  All  that  can  here  be 
said  of  it  is  that  international  friendships  and  good- 
will are  best  secured  and  cemented  by  a  mutual  in- 
terchange of  good  offices,  in  all  sincerity  and  hon- 
esty, with  a  keen  perception  of  what  is  right  and 
just. 

For  the  attainment  of  these  ends  the  statesman 
must  be  "  wise  as  the  serpent,  harmless  as  the 
dove." 

The  following  extract  from  Mrs.  Barbauld  exhi- 
bits the  ground-principle  in  political  ethics  :  "  We 
act  as  a  nation,  when  through  the  organ  of  the  legis- 
lative power  which  speaks  the  will  of  the  nation, 
and  by  means  of  the  executive  power  which  does 
the  will  of  the  nation,  we  enact  laws,  form  alliances, 
make  war  or  peace,  dispose  of  the  public  money, 
or  do  any  of  those  things  which  belong  to  us  in  our 
collective  capacity  ;  and  we  are  called  upon  to  re- 
pent of  national  sins  because  we  can  help  them, 
and  because  we  ought  to  help  them.  We  are  not 
to  imagine  we  can  make  government  the  scapegoat 
to  answer  for  our  follies  and  our  crimes.  The  blame 
rests  where  the  power  ultimately  rests.  It  were 
trifling  with  our  consciences  to  endeavor  to  separate 


POLITICAL  ETHICS;  APPLICATION  OF.     157 

the  acts  of  governors  sanctioned  by  the  nation 
from  the  acts  of  the  nation  ;  for  in  every  transac- 
tion the  principal  is  answerable  for  the  conduct  of 
the  agents  he  employs.  If  the  maxim  that  "  the 
king  can  do  no  wrong  "  throws  upon  ministers  the 
responsibility  because  without  ministers  no  wrong 
can  be  done,  the  same  reason  throws  it  from  them 
upon  the  people,  without  whom  ministers  could  do 
no  wrong. 

"  The  vices  of  nations  may  be  divided  into  those 
which  relate  to  their  own  internal  proceedings  and 
to  their  relations  with  other  states.  With  regard  to 
the  first,  the  causes  for  humiliation  are  various. 
Many  nations  are  guilty  of  the  crime  of  permitting 
oppressive  laws  and  bad  governments  to  remain 
among  them,  by  which  the  poor  are  crushed,  and 
the  lives  of  the  innocent  are  laid  at  the  mercy  of 
wicked  and  arbitrary  men.  This  is  a  national  sin 
of  the  deepest  dye,  as  it  involves  in  it  most  others. 
It  is  painful  to  reflect  how  many  atrocious  govern- 
ments there  are  in  the  world,  and  how  little  even 
they  who  enjoy  good  ones  seem  to  understand  their 
true  nature.  We  are  apt  to  speak  of  the  happiness 
of  living  under  a  mild  government  as  if  it  were 
like  the  happiness  of  living  under  an  indulgent  cli- 
mate ;  and  when  we  thank  God  for  it  we  rank  it 
with  the  blessings  of  the  air  and  the  soil  ;  whereas 
wc  ought  to  ask  God  for  wisdom  and  virtue  to  live 
under  a  good  government,  for  a  good  government 
is  the  first  of  national  duties.  It  is  indeed  a  happi- 
ness, and  one  which  demands  our  most  grateful 
thanks,  to  be  born   under  one  which  spares  us  the 


15S         MORAL  AND  RELIGTOUS  SCIEXCE. 

trouble  and  hazard  of  changing  it ;  but  a  people 
born  under  a  good  government  will  probably  not 
die  under. one,  if  they  conceive  of  it  as  an  indolent 
and  passive  happiness,  to  be  left  for  its  preservation 
to  fortunate  conjectures,  and  the  floating  and  vari- 
able chances  of  incalculable  events.  Our  second 
duty  is  to  keep  it  good." 

46.  Liberty;  Its  SuBSTA^XE. — The  substance 
of  liberty  or  freedom  consists  in  the  guarantees  which 
the  individual  has  from  the  invasion  of  his  rights  by 
a  stronger  party,  whether  this  party  be  an  individual, 
the  public  at  large,  or  the  government. 

The  same  truth  applies  to  a  nation  ;  hence  we  speak 
of  national  liberty,  or  independence  from  foreign 
interference.  Our  fathers  suffered,  fought  and  bled 
for  this,  in  the  time  of  the  American  Re\'olution,  the 
memorable  seven  years'  struggle  in  1776-83. 

The  following  extracts  from  a  distinguished 
writer  bear  on  this  subject :  "  It  is  impossible  to 
imagine  liberty  in  its  fullness,  if  the  people  as  a 
totality,  the  country,  the  nation,  whatever  name  may 
be  preferred,  or  its  gov'ernmcnt,  is  not  independent 
of  foreign  interference.  The  country  must  have 
what  the  Greeks  called  auio)iomj'.  This  implies  that 
the  country  must  have  the  right,  and  of  course  the 
power,  of  establishing  that  government  which  it 
considers  best,  unexposed  to  interference  from  with- 
out or  pressure  from  above.  No  foreigner  must  dic- 
tate:  No  extra-governmental  principle,  no  (.livinc 
right,  or  'principle  of  legitimac}-'  must  act  in  the 
foundation  of  the  government ;  no  claim  superior  to 


LIBERT  1';  ITS  SUBSTANCE.  mO 

that  of  the  people,  that  is,  superior  to  national 
sovereignty,  must  be  allowed.  This  independence 
or  national  self-government  further  implies  that,  the 
civil  government  of  free  choice  or  free  acquiescence 
being  established,  no  influence  from  without  besides 
that  of  freely  acknowledged  justice,  fairness  and 
morality  must  be  admitted.  There  must  then  be 
the  requisite  strength  to  resist  when  necessary. 

The  history  of  the  nineteenth  century,  but 
especially  that  of  our  own  age,  is  full  of  instances  of 
interference  with  the  autonomy  of  nations  or  states. 
Italy,  Germany,  especially  Hessia,  Spain,  Hungary, 
furnish  numerous  instances.  Cases  may  occur,  in- 
deed, in  which  foreign  interference  becomes  imper- 
ative. 

All  we  can  then  say  is,  that  the  people's  liberty, 
so  far,  is  gone,  and  must  be  recovered.  No  one 
will  maintain  that  interference  with  Turkish  affairs 
at  the  present  time  is  wrong,  in  those  powers  who 
resist  Russian  influence  in  that  quarter,  but  no  one 
will  say  either  that  Turkey  enjoys  full  autonomy. 
The  very  existence  of  Turkey  depends  upon  foreign 
sufferance. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  must  be  remembered  that 
this  unstinted  autonomy  is  greatly  endangered  at 
home,  by  interfering  with  the  domestic  affairs  of  for- 
eigners. 

"  The  opinion,  therefore,  urged  by  Washington,  that 
we  should  keep  ourselves  aloof  from  foreign  politics, 
is  of  far  greater  weight  than  those  believe  who  take 
it  merely  with  reference  to  foreign  alliances  and 
ensuing  wars." — Licber  s  Civil  Liberty. 


li;0         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

Liebcr  finds  that  the  guaranties  of  liberty  are 
in  institutions  ;  hence  that  hberty  secured  to  man  is 
"  institutional  liberty." 

Institutions,  natural,  social  and  political,  the  fam- 
ily, the  Sabbath,  public-school  education,  Magna 
Charta,  the  judiciary  and  many  others,  are  doubtless 
all  in  their  sev^eral  spheres  promotive  of  liberty.  But 
the  very  substratum,  substance,  essence  of  liberty  is 
alone  in  the  inward  man  ;  in  the  law  of  his  soul ;  in  a 
disposition  to  a  ready  obedience  to  the  moral  law,  as 
summed  up  in  the  two  great  commandments. 
Liberty,  its  substance,  its  essence,  is  in  the  character 
of  the  man,  in  his  habitual  subjection  to  the  limita- 
tions imposed  by  the  Creator. 

Magna  Charta,  "The  Great  Charter"  of  liberties, 
originally  granted  by  King  John  (a.  D.  1215)  to  the 
clergy,  barons  and  freemen  of  England,  and  con- 
firmed by  the  subsequent  rulers,  is  justly  regarded  as 
the  most  important  part  of  the  British  constitution. 
In  the  articles  relating  to  taxation  is  to  be  found 
the  constitutional  principle  that  no  tax  shall  be 
levied  except  by  consent  of  the  people  taxed, 
which  consent  may  be  expressed  by  their  repre- 
sentatives. 

The  violation  of  this  principle  was  one  of  the 
items  of  complaint  in  our  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence, 1776.  "The  Magna  Charta  was  a  writing 
declaring  the  people  of  England  exempted  from 
certain  oppressions,  and  entitled  to  certain  privileges, 
and  it  contained  sixty-three  different  clauses — only 
the  most  vexatious  tyranny  which  kings  could 
exercise  over  the    people   could  make  such  clauses 


RELIGIOUS  LI  BERT  y.  161 

necessary.  These  for  instance :  that  the  jroods  of 
every  free  man  shall  be  disposed  of,  after  his  death, 
according  to  his  will;  that  if  he  die  without  making 
a  will,  his  children  shall  succeed  to  his  property; 
that  no  ofificer  of  the  crown  shall  take  horses,  carts 
or  wood,  without  the  consent  of  the  owner. 

Articles  39  and  40,  in  Lord  Chatham's  judgment, 
and  by  general  consent,  are  the  most  important 
ones,  as  securing  all  civil  rights  belonging  to  free- 
men, thus:  "Nullus  liber  homo  capiatur,  vel  im- 
prisonetur.  .  .  .  "  "No  freeman  shall  be  taken, 
or  imprisoned,  or  be  disseised  of  his  freehold  or 
liberties,  or  free  customs,  or  be  outlawed  or  exiled, 
or  any  otherwise  destroyed,  nor  will  we  pass  upon 
him,  nor  condemn  him,  but  by  lawful  judgment  of 
his  peers,  or  by  the  law  of  the  land.  We  will  sell  to 
no  man,  we  will  not  deny  or  defer  to  any  man 
justice  or  right." 

47.  Religious  Liberty. — Religious  liberty  is 
freedom  to  worship  according  to  one's  conscience, 
provided  this  conscience  does  not  offend  against 
moral  principle  and  right. 

In  the  L^nited  States,  the  government  has  nothing 
to  do  with  the  maintenance  of  religion  by  pecuniary 
or  material  aid.  This  nonrelation  between  govern- 
ment and  religion  is  commonly  called  the  "Separa- 
tion of  Church  and  State."  This  separation  is 
entirely  on  material  or  concrete  grounds.  On  moral 
and  on  vital  grounds  there  must  always  be  a  close 
relation  between  the  church  and  the  state. 

The  church  as  an  organization  could  not  securely 
II 


162  MORAL  AND  RELKilOUS  SCIENCE. 

exist  without  the  protection  of  the  state,  for  it 
would  be  exposed  to  the  violence  of  men  who  know 
not  the  fear  nor  the  love  of  God ;  and  the  state, 
should  it  neglect  its  duty  to  protect  its  citizens  in 
freedom  of  worship,  would  drive  pure  religion  as 
well  as  liberty  from  its  borders,  and  the  govern- 
ment would  soon  degenerate  into  a  misrule  of 
ignorance,  bigotry  and  anarchy,  without  the  sem- 
blance of  liberty.  History  proves  this;  but  without 
the  facts  of  history,  the  proposition  is  logical  and  is 
necessarily  true  ;  because  the  perfection  of  religion, 
its  highest  idea,  is  in  the  freedom  of  the  soul  from 
the  rule  of  wrong  desires,  and  in  its  ready  obedience 
to  the  law  of  right.  Thus,  the  true  religious  citizen 
is  the  ideal  freeman,  and  a  true  religion  tends  to 
liberty.  "Where  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is,  there  is 
liberty."  (2  Corinthians  3  :  17.)  "But  whoso  looketh 
into  the  perfect  law  of  liberty,  and  continueth  there- 
in, he  being  not  a  forgetful  hearer,  but  a  doer  of  the 
work,  this  man  shall  be  blessed  in  his  deed." 
(James  i  :  25.)  "So  speak  ye,  and  so  do,  as  they 
that  shall  be  judged  by  the  law  of  liberty."  (James 
2:   12.) 

These  scripture  citations  show  that  there  is  a  law 
of  liberty,  not  a  law  that  restrains  liberty,  but  a  law 
that  gives  rise  to  liberty  and  warrants  us  in  the 
use  and  enjoyment  of  it. 

The  law  of  liberty  is  in  an  inward  state  or  hiw  of 
the  soul,  wherein  is  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  that 
manifests  itself  in  a  doing  of  the  word,  and  in  good 
deeds. 

The  law  of  liberty  as  here  cited  is  indeed  the  law 


Ph/i'^OXA/.    1. 1  BERT  r.  163 

prescribed  for  the  religious  man.  It  is  nevertheless 
a  law  entirely  in  accord  with  nature  as  well  as  with 
logic  and  philosophx-;  and  the  essential  element  of 
liberty  is  precisely  the  same  in  its  application  to  the 
moral  man  in  all  his  relations  in  life,  social,  civil 
and  institutional.  Liberty  is  not  an  absolute  state 
of  independence  that  a  man  has  an  absolute  right  to. 
It  is  conditioned,  and  conditioned  on  a  certain  law  of 
liberty,  that  must  first  exist  in  the  man's  soul,  and 
manifest  itself  by  his  deeds;  and  if  there  be  ncrt  this 
evidence  of  liberty,  and  of  an  existing  law  of 
liberty,  within  the  man,  and  of  its  development  into 
a  fitness  for  the  enjoyment  of  liberty;  then  that  man 
has  no  claim  to  take  part  or  to  act  in  determining 
the  institutions  and  the  limitations  of  liberty. 

48.  Personal  Liberty. — Personal  liberty  means 
that  a  man  has  a  right  to  the  use  of  his  powers  and 
faculties,  physical,  intellectual,  moral  and  religious, 
as  he  pleases,  provided  that  in  the  use  of  them  he 
does  not  stand  in  the  way  of  the  rights  of  his  fellow 
men. 

To  illustrate  what  is  personal  liberty  by  examples 
of  what  is  not;  this  proviso  forbids: 

(0  Throwing  stones,  firing  off  pistols,  exploding 
India-crackers  on  the  street  or  frequented  highway, 
or  in  public  or  private  grounds,  and  all  acts  of  this 
kind,  even  though  at  the  moment  you  may  see  no 
one  in  range. 

(2)  It  forbids  corrupting  the  young  and  the 
ignorant  by  immoral  speech  and  the  circulation  of  a 
literature  advocating  doctrines  and  practices  contrary 


Kit  MORAL  AXD  RELH,10CS  SCIENCE. 

to  sound  morals  and  to  law  based  upon  constitu- 
tional morality. 

This  rule  of  liberty  is  entirely  compatible  with  a 
freedom  of  speech,  and  of  the  press,  that  does  not 
run  into  a  licentiousness  of  liberty,  which  ought 
never  to  be  tolerated. 

(3)  It  forbids  idleness  or  the  disuse  of  our  facul- 
ties, since  the  proper  use  of  them  is  an  important 
factor  in  the  well-being  of  the  community,  which 
protects  the  individual  in  his  rights;  hence,  when  a 
man  is  habitually  idle,  and  without  visible  means  of 
support,  he  is  a  vagrant  and  is  properly  sent  to  the 
workhouse,  for  "Idleness  is  the  mother  of  vice." 

49.  Rights:  General  View. — The  right  is  a 
moral  idea  arising  from  man's  moral  nature  which 
distinguishes  between  the  right  and  the  wrong. 

The  lower  animals,  having  no  moral  nature,  have 
no  idea  of  right  or  of  wrong  ;  but  that  this  idea  is  uni- 
versal with  mankind  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  all 
men,  who  fol"  any  reason  have  regard  to  the  respect 
and  good-will  of  men,  predicate  their  acts — those 
that  affect  their  fellow-men — on  some  ground  of  right. 

A  stakes  out  a  piece  of  land  in  some  new  territory 
and  claims  it,  on  the  ground  of  a  squatter's  right, 
the  right  of  first  occupation ;  but  B,  as  the  agent  of 
a  railroad  corporation,  claims  the  same  land  in  virtue 
of  a  prior  right  through  an  alleged  government  grant. 

Here  arc  conflicting  claims,  both  set  up  on  the 
grountl  and  under  the  idea  of  a  right.  A  and  B  both 
say  that  the>'  want  only  what  is  right.  They  would 
not  dare  to  say  that  they  want  what  is  wrong — even 


RIGHTS:  GENERAL    l^IEW.  165 » 

though  they  might  be  bad  enough  in  disposition  to 
say  it,  for  a  declaration  of  this  sort  would  at  once 
condemn  them  and  their  cause. 

So,  too,  when  one  nation  declares  war  against 
another,  it  is  ostensibly  on  the  ground  of  right.  A 
government  and  people  persuade  themselves,  and 
would  persuade  all  men,  the  world  over,  that  their 
rights  have  been  violated  and  must  be  vindicated. 
In  the  American  Revolution,  England  held  that  she 
had  a  right  to  tax  America.  On  the  other  hand, 
America  held  that  taxation  without  representation 
was  not  right.  In  the  recent  German-Samoan 
scrimmage,  made  famous  by  subsequent  disaster, 
each  party  held  that  it  fired  on  the  other  in  self- 
defence. 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  question.  What  is  right  ? 
is  often  a  question  that  requires,  for  its  correct  solu- 
tion, an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  facts  involved, 
and  a  sound  judgment  and  unprejudiced  feelings  in 
the  consideration  of  them. 

Hence  the  need  and  the  function  of  the  judiciary. 

These  considerations  and  instances  prove  that 
right,  as  a  moral  idea,  is  implanted  in  the  soul  of 
man.  It  is  the  idea  of  adherence  to  what  is  true, 
just  and  conformable  to  facts.  A  right  is  something 
properly  claimed  or  possessed,  and  is  in  accord  with 
the  laws  of  man's  nature,  physical,  moral. 

Thus  any  man  has  a  right  to  the  air  he  breathes, 
to  water  and  fish  from  the  river  or  ocean ;  in  gen- 
eral, he  has  a  right  to  the  products  of  his  toil. 

A  right  is  the  substance  of  what  is,  or  is  possessed 
by  right.     Natural  rights,  then,  are  the  rights  a  man 


l(j<>  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

has  in  virtue  of  the  endowments  of  his  nature  in  its 
best  estate. 

Rights  and  duties  are  correlative  and  reciprocal. 
They  are  correlative  when  it  is  a  duty  to  maintain  a 
right  ;  reciprocal,  when  duty  results  from  another's 
right. 

The  right  deals  with  the  abstract  ;  there  is  no 
question  about  its  existence ;  all  men  are  conscious 
of  it. 

A  right  deals  w  ith  the  concrete,  and  it  is  often 
dif^cult  to  determine  \\hat  it  is.  Some  rights  called 
"natural  rights'  are  intuitively  seen  ;  as  a  man's 
right,  under  proper  limitations,  to  air,  fire,  water,  life 
and  liberty.  Other  rights  require  wisdom,  judgment 
and  experience  for  their  proper  determination.  Of 
these  are  social  rights,  ci\'il  rights,  property  rights. 

A  right  is  quite  different  from  a  duty. 

A  right  is  something  possessed  or  claimed  b}'  me; 
or  else  conceded  or  granted  to  another.  A  duty  is 
nothing  possessed  or  claimed,  but  is  something  that 
ought  tc  be  done. 

Duty,  then,  has  the  pre-eminence.  In  ethic  rela- 
tion the  first  inquiry  is  about  duty — What  ought  1 
to  do  ?  The  second  inquiry  is  about  rights  that  arise 
in  view  of  duty. 

Mutual  obligation  arises  when  each  man  is,  by 
natural  law,  possessed  of  like  rights  with  his 
neighbor. 

50.  PRorERTV  RiciiiTS:  Gkneral  Vifav. — We 
have  seen  that  every  man  has  a  natural  right  to  air, 
water,  fire,  the   sunlight  and -heat,  in   common   with 


PROPER  II'  Rl(,llTS:   LiEXERAL    VIEW.      Iii7 

all  men  so  far  as  bounteous  nature  affords  enough  of 
these  necessary  elements  of  existence,  as  she  gen- 
erally does. 

But  in  some  situations  even  water  and  fuel  fail, 
and  so  far  as  this  failure  results  from  lack  of  fore- 
sight or  from  improvidence,  the  short-sighted  and 
improvident  have  not  the  same  rights  as  those  who 
have  exercised  care  and  diligence.  There  were  five 
wise  maidens  who  put  oil  into  their  lamps,  and  fi\'e 
foolish  ones,  who  failed  to  provide  oil. 

Besides  air,  water,  sunlight,  there  are  other  things, 
the  right  to  which  must  be  acquired  by  some  degree 
of  exertion.  If  you  would  have  a  fish,  you  must 
catch  it ;  a  fire,  you  must  make  it,  and  must  see  to 
it  that  it  does  no  harm,  for  fire,  though  a  good  ser- 
want,  is  a  bad  master  ;  if  a  berry,  you  must  pick  it ;  a 
tree,  you  must  plant  it,  unless  you  find  one  already 
planted  and  not  claimed. 

These  things,  and  numerous  others,  as  well  as 
land  for  cultivation,  become  our  property  by  acqui- 
sition and  occupation,  when  not  already  occupied  by 
the  prior  right  of  some  other  person. 

In  whatever  way  a  man  has  acquired  property, 
whether  by  priority  of  possession,  by  labor,  by  gift, 
by  inheritance,  he  has  a  right  to  it.  If  property  has 
been  wrested  from  another  contrary  to  law,  moral  or 
civil,  the  injured  person  may  recover  his  rights  b\' 
the  use  of  such  means  as  civil  law  and  social  institu- 
tions provide.  If  there  are  no  remedial  laws  or  in- 
stitutions, then  he  should  cheerfully  abandon  his 
rights,  or  else  rely  on  his  own  individual  power  of 
redress  in  the  use  of  means  w  ithin  the  restrictions  of 


1(J8         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

man's  moral  nature  ;  but  when  property  has  been 
obtained  by  force  or  by  fraud,  if  there  be  no  right- 
ful individual  claimant,  the  property  should  revert  to 
the  state  for  the  public  benefit. 

51.  Origin  of  Right  to  Property. — This  is 
found  in  the  Divine  grant  given  in  Genesis  i  :  28,29, 
"And  God  said,  Replenish  the  earth  and  subdue  it, 
and  have  dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  over 
the  fowl  of  the  air,  and  over  every  living  thing  that 
moveth  upon  the  earth. 

"And  God  said,  "Behold,  I  have  given  you  every 
herb  bearing  seed  which  is  upon  the  face  of  all  the 
earth,  and  every  tree,  in  the  which  is  the  fruit  of  a 
tree  yielding  seed  :  to  you  it  shall  be  for  meat." 

"And  the  Lord  God  took  the  man,  and  put  him 
into  the  garden  of  Eden,  to  dress  it  and  to  keep  it." 
(Genesis  2  :  15.) 

The  original  title  to  property  comes,  then,  from  the 
Creator ;  and  according  to  the  terms  of  it,  it  con- 
sists in  personals  or  movables,  such  as  fish,  fowl, 
herbs  bearing  seed,  and  fruit  trees,  and  so  much  of 
soil  as  a  man  can  dress  and  keep. 

These  are  the  general  terms  or  outline  of  title. 
Particular  instances  of  title  must  be  determined  or 
decided  by  the  nature  or  constitution  of  man  ;  and 
this  determination  or  decision  will  be  correct  just  in 
proportion  as  the  true  constitution  of  man  is  known 
and  acted  upon. 

We  see  that  the  constitution  of  man  tends  to 
patriarchal  relations  and  government,  to  tribal  rela- 
tions and  government,  to  national  relations  and  gov- 


ORIGIN  OF  RIGHT  TO  PROPERTT.  100 

eminent;  and  property  rights  follow  these  relations 
and  are  modified  by  them.  The  patriarch  Abraham 
lived  a  pastoral  life — had  no  landed  property,  only 
the  use  of  such  as  he  occupied  from  time  to  time 
'for  temporary  residence  and  the  feeding  of  his 
flocks  and  herds. 

When  his  loved  wife  Sarah  died,  Abraham  desired 
to  possess  for  a  burial-place  a  field  belonging  to 
Ephron,  the  Hittitc,  and  for  four  hundred  shekels  of 
silver  he  bought  the  field,  and  the  cave  therein  ;  and 
all  the  trees  that  were  in  the  field  were  made  sure 
unto  Abraham  for  a  possession,  in  the  presence  of 
the  children  of  Heth,  before  all  that  went  in  at  the 
gate  of  his  city.  "And  the  field  and  the  cave  that 
is  therein  were  made  sure  unto  Abraham,  for  a  pos- 
session of  a  burying-place,  b)'  the  sons  of  Heth." 
(Genesis  23  :  20.) 

This  is  the  first  recorded  instance  of  the  purchase 
of  land  for  a  sum  of  money.  The  purchase  was 
made  by  a  man  accustomed  to  a  wandering  life,  of 
an  individual  belonging  to  a  people  of  fixed  habita- 
tions. The  people  or  children  of  Heth  doubtless 
had  by  possession  and  improvement  such  title  to 
the  land  where  they  lived  as  qualified  them  to  sell 
parcels  of  it  for  money.  This  is  the  right  a  people 
or  nation  has  to  the  land  they  have  taken  possession 
of  and  occupy.  It  is  a  permanent  right.  The  land 
at  first  belongs  to  the  people  collectively — none  to 
individuals;  but  the  collective  body  of  the  people, 
under  the  form  and  institution  of  civil  government, 
for  a  valuable  consideration,  gives  title  to  indixiduals 
to  certain   parcels  of  land  ;  and  thus  the  indi\'idual, 


170         MOnAL  AXn  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

the  pri\-ate  party,  by  doing  something,  or  by  paying 
something,  for  the  benefit  of  the  \\hoIe  people,  be- 
comes the  owner  of  a  certain  tract  or  certain  jxirccl 
of  land.  Also  \'irgil  gives  us  a  brief  account  of 
Queen  Dido's  purchase  from  the  Libyans  of  the  site 
of  Carthage — originalh'  a  hide  of  land — namely,  as 
much  land  as  could  be  enclosed  b}-  a  bull's  hide. 

Tiie  received  explanation  as  to  this  measurement 
of  land  is  that  the  hide  was  cut  into  narro\\'  strips. 

"Mercatiqiic  solum,  facti  de  nomine  B\  rsam. 
Taurine  quantum  possent  circunidare  tergo." 

—^EiiriiL  Bk.  /.  P,G~-S. 

And  thcv  bought  ground,  from  the  name  of  tlie  act,  n\rsa, 
As  mueli  as  they  were  al)le  to  encompass  with  a  bullock's  hide. 

This  land-sale  occurred  six  hundred  to  eight  lum- 
dred  years  after  tl^  land-purchase  by  Abraham. 

52.  Land-Title  in  the  United  States. — The 
first  emigrants  from  Europe  who  settled  upon  the 
Atlantic  coast  of  North  America,  bought  from  time 
to  time  of  the  native  Americans,  the  Indians,  their 
right  and  title  to  tracts  of  country  more  or  less 
extensive.  This  Indian  right  could  not  be  very  \-al- 
uable,  as,  for  the  most  part,  it  was  only  the  right  of 
sa\-ag(.:  men,  who  lix'cd  by  hunting  and  fishing,  sa\-e 
some  little  cultivation  of  Indian  corn,  hence  the  pur- 
chase-money or  other  consideration  was  small. 

The  Colonial,  the  State,  and  the  United  States 
Governments  that  were  successively  formed  or 
organized  b}'  the  immigrant  colonists  and  their 
descendants  thus  owned  in  trust  for  the  nitire  jjeoplc 


LAND-TITLE  AV   LXITED  STATES.  171 

all  the  lands  so  purchased  of  the  Indians,  and  have 
<;ood  right  to  sell  and  dispose  of  them  according  to 
the  will  of  the  people,  as  expressed  in  laws  enacted 
by  representatives;  namely,  men  elected  by  the 
peopfe  to  meet  in  general  assembly  or  congress,  to 
make  laws  for  the  government  of  the  people,  and  for 
the  disposition  of  public  affairs. 

Accordingly,  by  act  of  Congress,  the  public  lands 
have  been  surveyed  into  townships  six  miles  square, 
containing  thirty-six  sections,  each  a  mile  square, 
and  each  section  being  subdivided  into  quarter- 
sections  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  each  ;  and 
these  subdivisions  of  land  have  been  disposed  of  in 
various  wa}'s,  under  sundry  legislative  acts.  Sonic 
of  the  lands  have  been  set  apart  and  given  by  the 
United  States  to  the  separate  States,  as  a 
foundation  fund  for  university  and  public  school 
education,  or  for  educational  institutions  of  a  public 
character.  Many  alternate  sections  on  the  lines  of 
projected  railroads  have  been  conditionally  granted 
in  aid  of  railroad  building,  for  the  purpose  of  open- 
ing up  to  settlement  a  route  or  locality 'otherwise 
almost  inaccessible. 

Many  quarter-sections  have  been  bestowed  upon 
soldiers — one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  to  each  soldier 
— as  a  bounty  for  service  in  the  wars  of  the  United 
States.  Many  lands  have  been  sold  at  public  sale  b\- 
auction  to  the  highest  bidder,  and  after  a  public  sale 
the  lands  which  were  not  bid  off  have  been  on  sale. 
or  private  entry%  at  the  United  States  land  offices, 
to  anyone  who  wished  to  buy  at  the  minimum  price, 
one    dollar    and    twenty-five    cents    to    two    dollars 


172  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

and  fifty  cents  an  acre.  And  also  many  tracts  of 
land — quarter-sections — for  a  small  consideration — 
about  fifteen  dollars — have  been  sold  to  the  first 
settler  thereon,  to  encourage  settlement  as  well  as  to 
assist  the  citizen  of  small  means  to  the  possession 
of  a  home  and  homestead  and  its  improvement  and 
culture. 

These  several  ways  of  disposing  of  and  giving 
title  to  the  government  lands  are  legitimate ;  and 
hence  the  title  the  individual  obtains  is  perfect  and 
absolute. 

Yet  there  is  danger  of  unwise,  indiscreet  legisla- 
tion and  abuse  of  public  trust  ;  and  the  public  lands, 
in  some  cases,  have  been  disposed  of  without  due 
consideration. 

There  are,  however,  yet  left  extensive  tracts,  and 
it  behooves  the  present  and  the  rising  generation 
to  look  sharply  to  legislative  acts  relating  to  them. 
The  United  States  government  does  very  properly 
reserve  mineral  lands,  and  sells  timber  lands  at  a 
higher  valuation  than  farm  lands. 

TJic  vmin  object  of  this  sketch  of  land-tenure  in 
the  United  States  is  to  show  the  legitimacy  and 
certainty  of  title  to  every  man  \\ho  has  come  to  be 
a  land-owner — to  hold  a  possession  founded  in  man's 
social,  civil  and  political  institutions  in  accord  with 
human  nature — a  title  irreversible  except  by  social 
and  national  disintegration,  and  a  backward  stride 
into  barbarism.  A  possessio7t,  for  which  he  has  in 
some  form  given  "value  received,"  most  commonly, 
has  paid  money;  and  money — silver  and  gold — has 
cost    labor.     Thus    it    is  that  man's  toil    and    labor 


Bl,  A  CKS  TONE'S  C OMMEN  TS.  1 7:5 

enter  into  e\"en-  kind  of  property,  and  stamp  it  as 
a  mail's  oicii. 

Vet  often  the  fear  of  land-monopoly  finds  expres- 
sion. There  appears  to  be  little  danger  in  the 
United  States  that  an  individual  or  a  corporation 
will  hold  on  a  long  time  to  large  tracts  of  land. 
\\'ant  of  money,  taxes  and  other  expenses  will  in- 
duce sales.  It  might,  however,  be  in  accord  w  ith 
a  sound  morality  and  public  policy  to  limit  by  law 
land-acquisitions  to  a  reasonable  amount  ;  and  to  re- 
(}uire  the  equal  division  of  a  landed  estate  among 
the  heirs. 

But  hostile  legislation  for  the  purpose  of  depriv- 
ing the  individual  of  his  acquired  rights,  either  di- 
rectly by  confiscation,  or  indirectly  by  unequal 
taxation,  is  robbery,  and  is  in  violation  of  the  eighth 
commandment — "  Thou  shalt  not  steal,"  and  of  the 
tenth, — "thou  shalt  not  covet  anything  that  is  thy 
neighbor's." 

53.  Blackstone  on  the  Right  of  Property. — 
Some  of  the  comments  of  Blackstone  on  the  Right 
to  Property  will  here  be  appropriate. 

"  Communion  of  goods  seems  not  to  have  been  applicable,  even 
in  the  earliest  ages,  to  aught  but  the  substance  of  the  thing,  nor 
could  be  extended  to  the  use  of  it.  For  bv  the  \i\\\  of  nature 
and  of  reason,  he  who  first  began  to  use  it,  acquired  therein  a 
kind  of  transient  property,  that  lasted  so  long  as  he  was  using 
it,  and  no  longer;  or  to  speak  witli  greater  precision,  the  right  of 
possession  continued  for  the  same  time  only  that  the  act  of  pos- 
session lasted.  Thus  the  ground  was  in  common,  and  no  part  of 
it  was  the  permanent  property  of  any  man  in  particular;  yet  who- 
ever was  in  the  occupation  of  any  determinate  spot  of  it,  for  rest, 


J71  MORAL  AXD  RELK./Oi'S  SCIENCE. 

for  sliadc.  or  llie  like,  acquired  for  the  time  a  sort  of  ownership, 
from  whicli  it  would  have  been  unjust,  and  contrary  to  the  law  of 
nature,  to  have  driven  him  by  force  ;  but  the  instant  he  quitted 
the  use  or  occupation  of  it,  another  might  seize  it  without  injus- 
tice. Thus  also  a  vine  or  other  tree  might  be  said  to  be  in 
connnon,  as  all  men  were  equally  entitled  to  its  produce  ;  and 
vet  any  private  individual  might  gain  the  sole  property  of  the 
fruit,  which  he  had  gathered  for  his  own  repast  ;  a  doctrine 
well  illustrated  by  Cicero,  who  compares  the  world  to  a  great 
theatre,  which  is  common  to  the  public,  and  yet  the  place  which 
any  man  has  taken  is  for  the  time  his  own. 

But  when  mankind  increased  in  number,  craft  and  ambition,  it 
became  necessary  to  entertain  conceptions  of  more  permanent 
dominion,  and  to  appropriate  to  individuals  not  the  immediate 
use  only,  but  the  vei'y  substance  of  the  thing  to  be  used.  Other- 
wise, innumerable  tumults  must  have  arisen,  and  the  good  order 
of  the  world  have  been  continually  broken  and  disturbed,  while 
a  varietv  of  persons  were  striving  who  should  get  the  first  occu- 
pation of  the  same  thing,  or  disputing  which  of  them  had 
actually  gained  it. 

As  human  life  also  grew  more  and  more  refined,  abundance  of 
conveniences  were  devised  to  render  it  more  easy,  commodious, 
and  agreeable  as  habitations  for  shelter  and  safety,  and  raiment  lor 
warmth  and  decency.  But  no  man  would  be  at  the  trouble  to 
provide  either,  so  long  as  he  had  only  a  usufructuary  property 
in  them, which  was  to  cease  the  instant  he  quitted  possession; 
if,  as  soon  as  he  walked  out  of  his  tent,  or  pulled  off  his  gar- 
ment, the  next  stranger  who  came  by  would  have  the  right  to 
inhabit  the  one  and  to  wear  the  other. 

In  the  case  of  habitations  in  jiaiticuhir,  it  was  natural  to  ob- 
serve, that  even  the  brute  creation,  to  whom  e\er\  thing  else  was 
in  common,  maint.-iineil  a  kind  of  permanent  property  in  their 
dwellings,  especially  for  tlie  protection  of  their  young ;  that  the 
birds  of  the  air  had  nests,  and  tht;  beasts  of  the  fields  had  caverns, 
the  invasion  of  which  they  esteemed  a  very  flagrant  injustice, 
and  would  sacrifice  their  lives  to  preserve  them. 

Hence,  a  property  was  soon  established  in  every  man's  house 
and  homestall  which  seem  to  have  been  originally  mere  tempo- 
rary huts  or  movable  cabins,  suited  to  the  design   of  Providence 


BLA  CKS  TONE'S  C OMMENTS. 


for  more  b^peedily  peopling  the  earth  and  suited  to  the  wander- 
ing Hie  of  their  owners  before  any  extensive  property  in  the  soil 
or  ground  was  established. 

And  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  movables  of  every 
kind  became  sooner  appropriated  than  the  permanent,  substan- 
tial soil ;  partly  because  they  were  more  susceptible  of  a  long 
occupance,  wiiich  might  be  continued  for  months  together  witli- 
out  any  sensible  interruption,  and  at  length  by  usage  ripen  into 
an  established  right  ;  but  principally  because  few  of  them  could 
be  fit  for  use,  till  improved  and  meliorated  by  the  bodily  labor  of 
the  occupant  ;  which  bodily  labor  bestowed  upon  any  subject 
which  before  lay  in  common  to  all  men,  is  universally  allowed 
to  give  the  fairest  and  most  reasonable  title  to  an  exclusive 
property  therein. 

The  article  of  food  was  a  more  immediate  call,  and,  therefore, 
a  more  earlv  consideration.  Such  as  were  not  contented  with 
the  spontaneous  product  of  the  earth,  sought  for  a  more  solid 
refreshment  in  the  flesh  of  beasts,  which  they  obtained  by 
hunting.  But  the  frequent  disappointments  incident  to  that 
method  of  provision  induced  them  to  gather  together  such 
animals  as  were  of  a  more  tame  and  sequacious  nature;  and  to 
establish  a  permanent  property  in  their  flocks  and  herds,  in  order 
to  sustain  themselves  in  a  less  precarious  manner,  partly  by  the 
milk  of  the  dams,  and  partly  by  the  flesh  of  the  young.  The 
support  of  these,  their  cattle,  made  the  article  of  water  also  a 
very  important  point.  And,  therefore,  the  book  of  Genesis  (the 
most  venerable  monument  of  antiquity,  considered  merely  with 
a  view  to  history)  will  furnish  us  with  frequent  instances  of  the 
violent  contentions  concerning  wells,  the  exclusive  property  of 
which  appears  to  have  been  established  in  the  first  digger  or 
occupant,  even  in  such  places  where  the  ground  and  herbage 
remained  yet  in  common. 

Thus  we  find  Abraham,  who  was  but  a  sojourner,  asserting 
his  right  to  a  well  in  the  country  of  Abimelech,  and  exacting  an 
oath  for  his  security,  '  because  he  had  digged  that  well.'  And 
Isaac,  about  ninety  years  afterwards,  reclaimed  this,  his  father's 
property  ;  and  after  much  contention  with  the  Philistines,  was 
suffered  to  enjoy  it  in  peace. 

As  the  world  bj'  degrees  grew  more  populous,  it  daily  became 


170  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

more  difficult  to  find  new  spots  to  inhabit,  without  encroaching 
upon  former  occupants  ;  and  by  constantly  occupying  the  same 
individual  spot,  the  fruits  of  the  earth  were  consumed,  and  its 
spontaneous  produce  destroyed,  without  any  provision  for  a 
future  supply. 

It  therefore  became  necessary  to  pursue  some  regular  method 
of  providing  a  constant  subsistence  ;  and  this  necessity  produced, 
or  at  least  promoted  and  encouraged,  the  art  of  agriculture,  bv  a 
regular  connection  and  consequence  ;  introduced  and  estab- 
lished the  idea  of  a  more  permanent  property  in  the  soil  than 
had  hitherto  been  received  and  adopted. 

It  was  clear  that  the  earth  would  not  produce  her  fruits  in 
sufficient  quantities,  without  the  assistance  of  tillage  ;  but  who 
would  be  at  the  pains  of  tilling  it,  if  another  might  watch  an 
opportunity  to  seize  upon  and  enjoy  the  product  of  his  indus- 
try, art  and  labor  .'  Had  not,  therefore,  a  separate  property  in 
lands,  as  in  movables,  been  vested  in  some  individuals,  the 
Avorld  must  have  continued  a  forest,  and  men  have  been  mere 
animals  of  prey  ;  which,  according  to  some  philosophers,  is  the 
genuine  state  of  nature.  Whereas  now  (so  graciously  has  Provi- 
dence interwoven  our  duty  and  our  happiness  together),  the 
result  of  this  very  necessity  has  been  the  ennobling  of  the 
human  species,  by  giving  it  opportunities  of  improving  its 
rational  faculties,  as  well  as  of  exerting  its  natural. 

Necessity  begat  property,  and  in  order  to  insure  that  property, 
recourse  was  had  to  civil  society,  which  brought  along  with  it  a 
long  train  of  inseparable  concomitants — states,  government,  laws, 
punishments,  and  the  public  exercise  of  religious  duties.  Thus 
connected  together,  it  was  found  that  a  part  only  of  society  was 
sufficient  to  provide,  by  their  manual  labor,  for  the  necessary 
subsistence  of  all  ;  and  leisure  was  given  to  others  to  cultivate 
the  human  mind,  to  invent  useful  arts,  and  to  lay  the  foundations 
of  science. 

The  only  question  reinaining  is.  how  this  property  became 
actually  vested  ;  or  what  it  is  that  gave  a  man  an  exclusive  right 
to  retain  in  a  permanent  manner  that  specific  land  which  before 
belonged  generally  to  everybody,  but  particularly  to  nobody. 

And  as  we  before  observed,  that  occupancy  gave  the  right  to 
the  temporary  use  of  the  soil,  so  it  is  agreed  upon  all  hands  that 


CIVIL  LIBERTY:  GENERAL    VIEW.  177 

occupancy  gave  also  the  original  right  to  the  permanent  prop- 
erty in  the  substance  of  the  earth  itself,  which  excludes  every- 
one else  but  the  owner  from  the  use  of  it." 

54.  Civil  Liberty. — General  View:  In  gen- 
eral, it  carries  the  idea  that  the  citizen  is  protected 
in  his  civil  rights  ;  such  rights  as  he  is  entitled  to  by 
the  proper  laws  and  institutions  of  a  land  of  constitu- 
tional freedom.  And  this  protection  implies,  on  his 
part,  a  counter-obligation  to  uphold  the  laws  and 
institutions  of  his  country. 

Civil  liberty  arises  from  a  due  consideration  of 
man's  individual,  personal  rights,  and  his  social  rela- 
tions, his  duties,  obligations  and  rights  in  respect  to 
ever}^  other  man  and  also  to  the  community  as  a 
whole. 

It  means  protection  in  natural  and  institutional 
rights,  such  as  a  right  to  the  unappropriated  fruits 
of  the  earth,  and  to  the  wealth  of  the  seas ;  and  to 
the  products  of  toil,  as  well  as  to  freedom  from 
interference  in  social,  civil  and  political  relations — 
such  relations  as  are  in  accord  with  moral  and  ci\il 
law  and  with  civil  rights  and  duties. 

In  English  common  law,  a  man's  house  is  his 
castle — 

"  Domus  sua  cuique  est  tutissimum  refugium." 
A  most  sure  refuge  to  everyone  is  his  own  house. 

None  but  those  of  his  household  can  enter 
unbidden — not  even  the  king — none  save  an  officer 
of  the  law  empowered  by  a  legal  warrant. 

As  to  warrants:  The  warrant  must  name  the 
person  it  is  to  be  served  upon.     A  general  warrant 


178         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

without  name  inserted  is  not  allowable  in  English 
and  in  American  law. 

The  "  Habeas  Corpus"  writ  is  an  important  civil 
right ;  trial  by  a  jury  of  one's  peers ;  the  privilege  of 
reasonable  bail ;  proof  of  guilt  to  be  made  by 
the  accusing  party,  not  of  innocence  by  the  accused ; 
counsel  and  protection  in  public  accusation; — these 
and  other  guarantees  of  justice,  constitute  civil  rights. 

Freedom  of  public  assembly  and  discussion,  liberty 
of  speech  and  of  the  press,  and  the  right  of  petition, 
liberty  to  come  and  go  at  will,  to  determine  one's 
residence  and  business,  are  all  regarded  as  primary 
civil  rights  ;  yet  these  all  must  have  their  limitations, 
especially  in  time  of  war  and  civil  strife,  when  it  is 
sometimes  necessary  for  the  public  safety  to  abridge 
or  to  suspend  these  rights, 

55.  Civil  Duties. — Civil  duties  include  respect 
for  the  customs,  laws  and  institutions  of  our 
country,  and  for  the  ofificials,  civic,  legislative,  judi- 
cial and  executive,  whose  function  it  is  to  determine 
and  enforce  them ;  in  short,  require  us  to  honor, 
obey  and  support  the  government ;  which  duties  can 
be  done  only  by  the  diligent,  moral  and  patriotic 
citizen  pursuing  an  honest  and  useful  vocation,  and 
ready  to  deny  himself  for  the  public  weal. 

Reciprocal  rights  and  duties  there  are  on  the  part 
of  the  State  or  National  Government. 

Obvious  is  the  duty  of  economy  in  the  use  of 
public  means ;  not,  however,  a  penny-wise  and 
pound-foolish  economy. 

Measures  must  be   instituted   for  the  maintenance 


OBEDIENCE   TO  LAW.  170 

of  individual  and  national  rights ;  for  an  efficient 
army  and  navy,  for  good  harbors,  lighthouses,  coast 
defenses,  and  sundry  fortifications.  The  great 
arteries  of  interstate  commerce  and  intercommuni- 
cation must  be  kept  open,  not  only  by  removing  or 
surmounting  natural  obstacles,  but  by  a  prompt 
setting  aside  of  those  of  discord  and  Hot. 

In  short,  the  state's  duty  is  to  do  what  the  private 
citizen  can  not  or  should  not  do;  and  is  not  to  do 
what  individual  or  private  enterprise  can  and  should 
do,  for  the  contra  of  this  course  or  policy  tends  to 
dwarf  the  citizen. 

To  draw  correctly  this  line  of  distinction  between 
public  and  private  rights  and  duties  requires  learn- 
ing, experience,  judgment,  moral  perception  and 
character,  and  tests  the  qualities  of  the  statesman. 

56,  Obedience  to  Law. — Man's  entire  nature, 
physical  and  moral,  is  one  of  law ;  and  the  world  in 
which  he  lives,  as  well  as  the  universe  around,  exists 
and  moves  under  the  reign  and  guidance  of  law; 
included  is  his  social  nature,  whence  arise  civil  rights 
and  duties.  Law  is  everywhere,  and  in  every  part 
where  law  is,  there  must  be  obedience  to  it ;  else  the 
constitution  of  nature,  man  inclusive,  will  come  to 
nought — will  quick  end  in  destruction. 

There  is,  then,  a  physical  necessity  for  obedience 
to  law,  for  without  it  nature  would  not  exist ;  and 
there  is  a  moral  necessity  for  obedience,  for  self- 
preservation  is  an  instinct  of  all  animate  nature;  and 
the  preservation  of  whatever  has  value  is  a  duty, 
and  the  discharge  of  duty  is  the  highest  good. 


180         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

Indeed  it  was  shown  at  the  beginning  that 
obedience  is  the  ground-principle  in  morals — 
obedience  to  the  Supreme,  as  the  author  of  all  law 
— hence,  in  general,  obedience  to  law ;  specifically, 
obedience  to  the  civil  law. 

The  laws  and  customs  of  the  state  and  of  society, 
when  based  on  the  law  of  right  or  good  morals,  are 
then  to  be  obeyed  with  alacrity,  because  they  are 
right. 

When  indifferent  as  to  morals,  they  must  be 
obeyed  because  disobedience  would  result  in  con- 
fusion, and  a  habit  of  disobedience,  in  ruin.  The 
law  may  not  be  a  wise  one,  may  not  be  a  just  one, 
but  this  does  not  excuse  us  from  obedience  when 
it  is  enforced.  If  the  law  is  wrong,  we  are  at 
liberty  to  endeavor  to  get  it  amended  or  repealed. 

When,  however,  civil  laws  appear  to  be  contra  to 
moral  law,  the  civil  law  may  be  obeyed  under 
protest,  and  an  appeal  may  be  made  to  the  courts, 
or  the  appeal  may  be  made  prior  to  compliance  with 
the  requirements'  of  said  law.  Thus,  in  the  case  of 
a  tax  unjustly  levied,  the  taxpayer  may  appeal  to 
the  judiciary  for  an  injunction  to  restrain  ofificial 
proceedings  for  the  enforcement  of  collection  till  the 
legal  status  of  the  tax  can  be  determined. 

But  if  the  law  be  utterly  repugnant  to  the  sub- 
ject's sense  of  riglit  and  conscience,  then,  rather  than 
do  wrong,  it  is  better  to  receive  with  meekness  the 
punishment — the  penalty  attached  to  the  violation 
of  said  law. 

Man  is  fallible,  and  his  laws  may  be  fallible — 
contra  to  the  right.     The  only  sure  criterion  of  duty 


AV  TERES  T  J  A   CI  VIL  A  FFA  IRS.  J  8 1 

• 
is  in  obedience  to  God,  to  the  moral  law  orij^inating 
in  the  constitution  of  the  Creator  of  all. 

We  must  obey  the  authority  delegated  by  the 
social  compact  to  our  rulers,  when  we  do  not  thereby 
disobey  the  universal  law  of  right,  the  moral  law 
necessarily  and  universally  true — often  called  the 
Higher-law,  or  the  law  of  the  enlightened  con- 
science ,  thus,  when  the  high  priest  said  to  the 
disciples  of  Jesus:  "Did  not  we  straitly  command 
you,  that  ye  should  not  teach  in  this  name  ?"  "  Peter 
and  the  other  apostles  answered  and  said,  We  ought 
to  obey  God  rather  than  men."  (Acts  5:  28,  29.) 
While  obedience  to  civil  law  is  in  general  impera- 
tive, and  disobedience,  under  any  circumstances,  is 
to  be  deprecated,  there  must  be  a  degree  of  flexi- 
bility— some  concession  on  the  part  of  the  state  to 
the  right  and  conscience  of  the  subject,  else  there  is 
no  place  for  individual  self-respect  and  personal 
liberty. 

Military  law  is  necessarily  more  strict  than  jivil 
law,  and  the  death  penalty  is  often  attached  to 
disobedience,  for  on  strict  obedience  important 
results  may  depend  ;  and  the  soldier  who  deserts  his 
post,  and  the  ofificer  who  disregards  the  orders  of 
his  superior  is  highly  culpable. 

57.  The  Duty  of  Interest  in  Civil  Affairs. 
— "What  is  everybody's  business  is  nobody's"  is  a 
common  saying,  and  there  is  great  danger  of  its  be- 
ing a  true  one  in  civil  affairs.  Each  citizen  has  an 
interest  in  the  common  weal ;  when  that  suffers  he 
individually   suffers,  and  each  one  should  cheerfully 


182         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

contribute  of  his  time  and  meafts  in  proportion  to 
his  abihty  and  capabihty,  to  promote  the  general 
good,  by  needful  and  wise  public  measures  and  im- 
provements ;  by  an  economic  administration  of  pub- 
lic finance  and  material  ;  by  the  enactment  of  just 
and  wholesome  laws,  and  a  faithful  execution  of 
them. 

Each  citizen  should  attend  to  these  duties  not 
only  on  his  own  account,  but  on  the  ground  of 
good-will,  a  desire  to  advance  the  interests  of  his 
fellow-citizens,  as  well  as  from  a  sentiment  of  public 
spirit  and  patriotism. 

While  each  one  has  something  to  do,  has  the  one 
talent  to  improve,  there  are  always  a  few  gifted 
in  wisdom,  executive  ability,  means  and  capability 
beyond  their  fellow-citizens  in  general.  These  are 
called  the  leading  men,  or  the  foremost  men  of  the 
community  or  the  State — the  men  providentially  en- 
trusted with  ten  talents,  and  to  whom  much  is  given, 
of  them  much  is  required. 

These  foremost  men  should  feel,  and  to  the  credit 
of  human  nature,  generally  do  feel  willing  to  serve 
for  the  good  of  all,  in  positions  of  honor  rather  than 
of  pecuniary  profit  ;  so  all  should  gladly  do  what 
they  ought  and  can  to  sustain  the  willing  leader. 

As  an  illustrious  example  of  this  devotion  to 
duty,  take  that  of  James  Otis,  who  first  manifested 
his  patriotism  when,  to  the  sacrifice  of  private  inter- 
ests, he,  at  the  call  of  duty,  intrepidly  argued,  with 
clear  logic  and  electric  eloquence,  against  the 
"Writs  of  Assistance,"  by  which  old  England 
would  enforce  her  trade  laws,  collect  duties  of  the 


SUFFRAGE:  A   CONDITIONAL  RIGHT.      183 

Americans  on  the  goods  she  sold  them — all  which 
acts  Otis  characterized  as  "taxation  without  repre- 
sentation," and  as  an  expenditure  of  public  money 
without  appropriation  by  the  representatives  of  the 
people  who  paid  the  money,  and  hence  as  unconsti- 
tutional acts. 

He  foresaw  the  injustice  and  evil  that  would 
come,  not  from  anything  already  suffered  by  the 
colonists,  but  from  the  false  principle  involved,  and 
certain  to  work  mischief. 

58.  Suffrage— A  Conditional  Right.— The 
right  to  vote  should  depend  on  capability  and  inter- 
est— these  to  be  determined  by  the  intellectual  and 
moral  fitness  of  the  voter  to  understand  the  ques- 
tion to  be  voted  on,  and  his  relation  to  it  or  interest 
in  it. 

Thus,  if  it  be  a  question  about  the  construction  or 
repair  of  a  public  road,  all  persons  taxed  to  make  or 
repair  it  might  have  right  to  vote  upon  it ;  so  as  to 
district-school  educational  questions  and  all  ques- 
tions voted  upon.  It  is  the  man  rightfully  interested 
that  has  right  to  vote. 

Hence  the  elective  franchise  is  not  a  natural 
right,  but  a  privilege  granted  by  the  state  in  consid- 
eration of  value  received  by  the  state  from  the 
individual,  and  hence  the  ethic  of  it  is  in  a  "quid 
pro  quo,"  and  the  extent  of  qualification  and  service 
on  the  part  of  the  individual  should  be  carefully  de- 
termined. The  principle  demands  that  there  shall 
be  a  real  interest  in  the  weal  of  the  state. 

This  interest  may  be  taken  for  granted  where  there 


18i         MORAl.  A XI)  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

is  present  nativity,  or  a  cetain  amount  of  property 
with  respectability.  Fitness  to  vote  can  only  be 
evidenced  by  a  willing  offering  of  something  valua- 
ble, and  the  man  who  has  no  moral  force,  toil  or 
money  for  the  benefit  and  use  of  the  state,  can  have 
no  claim  to  a  part  and  lot  in  the  direction  and  man- 
agement of  the  affairs  of  the  state. 

Universal  suffrage,  with  little  restriction,  has  been 
established  by  law  in  the  United  States.  It  is  ques- 
tionable whether  the  restrictions  are  sufficient  to 
meet  the  requirements  of  expediency;  and  yet  more 
of  a  true  ethic-principle  constituent  in  the  elective 
franchise. 

J,  S.  Mill  advocated  the  right  of  woman  to  the 
ballot,  and  an  educational  qualification  for  all  voters. 
Qualifications  and  limitations  there  should  be.  What 
qualifications  are  necessary  to  save  from  a  too  cheap 
quality  of  citizenship,  let  the  people  and  statesmen 
determine. 

59.  Liberty  of  Speech. — Liberty  of  speech  is 
another  name  for  the  right  of  free  speech.  The 
idea  of  right  is  here  in  the  realm  of  morals,  for  it  is 
accompanied  by  present  considerations  of  dut)'  and 
obligation.  Not  all  rights  are  in  this  category. 
Thus  in  wandering  in  the  wilderness  I  have  a  right 
to  acorns,  walnuts  or  other  fruit  that  in  my  pathless 
course  may  minister  to  my  need.  No  idea  of  duty 
or  obligation  arises  here.  My  act  in  appropriating 
nature's  gifts  affects  only  myself.  I  have  right  to 
the  fruit,  because  1  want  it.  No  one's  right  is  in- 
vaded.    Ikit  in  free  speech  it  is  quite  otherwise.  My 


I.J  BERT  r  OF  SPEECH.  Ib5 

speech  may  affect  the  rights  of  others;  hence,  it 
must  be  so  ordered  as  not  to  violate  another's 
rights. 

This  fair  side  of  free  speech  is  kept  in  view  and 
attained  when  men  are  careful  to  say  only  things 
that  are  true,  and  in  saying  them  do  not  contravene 
other  points  of  the  moral  law  ;  namely,  do  not  say 
truths  that  should  not  be  said,  that  wrong  indi- 
viduals and  profit  no  one. 

Nor  would  it  at  all  times  be  right  to  use  the  lib- 
erty of  free  speech  against  a  law  of  the  land,  even 
though  that  law  be  in  fact  contra  to  right  and  to  the 
true  interests  of  the  people. 

A  certain  freedom  of  speech,  legitimate  in  general, 
would  be  out  of  order  in  a  time  of  invasion  by  an 
enemy,  when  the  full  aid  of  every  citizen  is  needed 
to  save  his  country. 

At  such  a  time,  to  turn  aside  from  the  instant  duty 
of  the  hour,  to  find  fault  with  the  laws  and  institu- 
tions of  one's  country,  is  a  stab  in  the  back — is 
treason. 

As  germane  to  the  subject  of  free  speech,  notice 
Judge  Tuley's  opinion  given  in  Chicago  (Januarw 
1889),  in  the  injunction  suit  brought  by  the  anarch- 
ists against  the  police,  to  prevent  their  interference 
with  anarchist  meetings  for  discussion,  peaceable 
they  would  say — for  plotting  mischief,  the  police 
say : 

The  opinion  as  reported  runs  thus:  "  Howex'cr 
objectionable  some  of  the  objects  of  the  societ)' 
may  be  to  the  court  or  to  the  great  body  of  our 
citizens,    the    only    question    is.    Are    they    lawful? 


180  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

They  have  a  right  to  advocate  their  peculiar  views 
in  pubhc  assembly ;  they  may  discuss  any  social 
or  economic  question,  may  demand  the  repeal 
of  old  laws,  and  the  substitution  of  such  new 
ones  as  may  commend  themselves  to  their  judg- 
ment, whims  or  caprices.  They  ma}'  criticise  the 
acts  of  all  public  ofificers,  from  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  the  judge  on  the  bench,  down  even 
to  the  policeman.  They  may  even  advocate  a 
change  of  our  form  of  government  and  the  substitu- 
tion of  another,  but  peaceabh'  and  b\'  means  of  the 
freeman's  weapon — the  ballot — not  by  force  or  by 
revolution." 

As  to  this  opinion,  it  may  be  regarded  as  correct 
in  theory,  if  the  actual  facts  in  the  case  agree  with 
those  enumerated  in  the  opinion  ;  if  the  objects  were 
lawful.  It  may  be  that  the  written  constitution, 
laws  and  rules  of  the  anarchist  society  set  out  or 
exhibit  only  things  lawful ;  but  the  question  arises, 
do  they  in  fact  abide  by  their  own  proposals,  or  are 
these  only  a  fair  form  of  truth  to  disguise  fraud  and 
evil  intent,  like  the  wooden  horse  the  Greeks  gave  to 
the  Trojans,  whereby  to  honor  the  Goddess  of  Wis- 
dom ;  which  gift,  noble  and  pious  in  outward  appear- 
ance, yet  within  teeming  with  a  concealed  hostile 
band  of  armed  men,  the  simple  and  deceived  Tro- 
jans accepting  from  their  wily  foes  drew  into  their 
walled  city,  to  their  own  destruction? 

Thus  on  pretense  of  pious  regard  for  the  Goddess 
of  Liberty,  the  wil)'  anarchist,  with  principles  that 
undermine  libert}-,  with  fair  words  may  conceal  a 
treacherous  design,  and  before  Judge  Tuley's   opin- 


LIBERT y  OF  SPEEi  11.  IS? 

ion  is  accepted  as  sound  and  final,  the  public  will 
inquire  whether  the  Haymarket  meeting,  held  osten- 
sibly for  peaceable  purposes,  yet  ending  in  the  mas- 
sacre of  policemen  with  dynamite,  as  well  as  the 
prior  and  subsequent  advocacy  of  force  to  effect 
unlawful  and  immoral  ends,  do  not  justly  rule  and 
bar  anarchist  societies  outside  the  pale  of  law  ful 
assemblies. 

It  is  well  to  keep  in  mind  the  moral  of  the  old 
fable  about  the  captive  trumpeter  who  plead  that 
as  he  himself  was  unarmed,  his  captors  should  spare 
his  life.  "Yes,"  was  the  sharp  reply,  "but  by 
sounding  }-our  trumpet,  you  incite  our  enemies  to 
kill  us."^ 

There  is  a  correct  theory  of  free  speech  predi- 
cated on  the  assumed  good  intent  and  moral  sanity 
of  the  speaker,  which  admits  of  a  liberal  construc- 
tion to  the  right  of  free  speech.  But  after  a  society 
or  organization  of  men  for  whatever  object  ha\'e 
repeatedly  countenanced  the  advocacy  of  immoral 
purposes  and  unlawful  acts,  they  have  lost  all  claim, 
as  an  organization,  to  be  regarded  as  a  lawful  as- 
sembly, and  all  claim  to  the  right  of  free  speech,  for 
this  sacred  right  is  a  right  given  and  guaranteed  to 
the  citizen,  by  the  civil  government  under  which  he 
lives,  for  the  protection  of  its  own  interests,  well- 
being  and  life,  as  well  as  for  that  of  the  individual  citi- 
zen ;  and  this  end  cannot  be  attained  when  the  right 
and  realm  of  either  the  state  or  of  the  citizen  is 
wrongfully  inwaded. 

Liberty  of  speech  is  not  a  one-sided  libert\-; 
there    is    in    it    a   reciprocal  relation,    dut}-    and  ob- 


188  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

ligation  between  the  individual  citizen  and  the 
people. 

J.  S.  Mill  on  Free  Speech  :  No  one  will  accuse 
Mr.  Mill  of  illiberality  towards  liberty ;  yet  even 
with  him  liberty  has  its  limitations.  We  quote  this: 
"  No  one  pretends  that  actions  should  be  as  free  as 
opinions.  On  the  contrary,  even  opinions  lose  their 
immunity,  when  the  circumstances  in  which  they 
are  expressed  are  such  as  to  constitute  their  expres- 
sion a  positive  instigation  to  some  mischievous  act. 
An  opinion  that  corn  dealers  are  starvers  of  the 
poor,  or  that  private  property  is  robbery,  ought  to  be 
unmolested  when  simply  circulated  through  the 
press,  but  may  justly  incur  punishment  when  de- 
livered orally  to  an  excited  mob  assembled  before 
the  house  of  a  corn  dealer,  or  when  handed  about 
among  the  same  mob  in  the  form  of  a  placard. 

"Acts  of  whatever  kind  which  without  justifiable 
cause  do  harm  to  others  may  be,  and  in  the  more 
important  cases  absolutely  require*  to  be,  con- 
trolled by  the  unfavorable  sentiments,  and  when 
needful,  by  the  active  interference  of  mankind. 
The  liberty  of  the  individual  must  thus  far  be  lim- 
ited ;  he  must  not  make  himself  a  nuisance  to 
other  people." 

60.  Leo  XIII  ON  "  Liberty  of  Speech  and  of 
THE  Press." — In  his  Encyclical  Letter  (1888)  Pope 
Leo  XIII  writes  thus: 

"  For  right  is  a  moral  power  which  it  is  absurd  to 
supi)ose  that  nature  has  given  indifferently  to  truth 
and  falsehood,  to  justice  and   injustice.       Men  have 


LEO  .Mil   (KV  LIBER'l  r  OF  SPEECH.         189 

a  right  freely  and  prudently  to  propagate  through- 
out the  state  whatsoever  things  are  true  and  hon- 
orable, so  that  as  many  as  possible  may  possess 
them ;  but  false  doctrines,  than  which  no  mental 
plague  is  greater,  and  vices  which  corrupt  the  heart, 
should  be  diligently  repressed  by  public  authority, 
lest  they  insidiously  work  the  ruin  of  the  state. 
The  excesses  of  an  unbridled  intellect,  which  really 
end  in  the  oppression  of  the  ignorant  multitude,  are 
not  less  rightly  restrained  by  the  authority  of  the 
law  than  are  the  injuries  inflicted  by  force  upon  the 
weak ;  and  even  more  so,  because  by  far  the  greater 
part  of  the  community  either  absolutely  cannot,  or 
can  only  with  great  difificulty,  avoid  their  allu- 
sions or  subtleties,  especially  such  as  flatter  their 
'own  passions. 

"  If  unbridled  license  of  speech  and  of  writing  be 
granted  to  all,  nothing  will  remain  sacred  and  invio- 
late ;  even  the  highest  and  truest  judgment  of 
nature,  the  common  and  noblest  heritage  of  the 
human  race,  will  not  be  spared. 

"  In  regard,  however,  to  such  matters  of  opinion  as 
God  leaves  to  man's  free  discussion,  full  liberty  of 
thought  and  of  speech  is  naturally  within  the  right 
of  everyone,  for  this  liberty  never  leads  men  to  sup- 
press the  truth,  but  leads  often  to  its  discovery  and 
manifestation." 

Sound  and  admirable,  provided  "  false  doctrines" 
refer  to  those  contra  to  moral  truth,  as  the  general 
tenor  of  the  article  indicates,  and  not  to  what  may 
be  regarded  as  true  or  false  by  certain  individuals, 
societies  or  schools  of  thought. 


IttO         MORAL  AND  RELKrIOl'S  SCIENCE. 

6i.  Veracity. — 

"  He  is  detestable 
Whose  words  agree  not  with  his  tliouglits." 

— Iloiiiers  Iliad,  IX,  312. 

Man  by  nature  is  inclined  to  tell  the  truth,  and  to 
believe  what  is  told  him  ;  but  by  the  perversion  of 
good  faculties  and  endowments,  temptations  to  con- 
ceal and  deceive,  from  a  consciousness  that  the 
truth  would  be  damaging  to  our  reputation  or  sup- 
posed interest,  often  tend  to  counteract  this  good 
disposition  in  man's  nature,  and  to  beget  falsehood 
and  unbelief. 

Moral  truth  does  not  necessarily  agree  with  facts, 
for  we  may  be  mistaken  as  to  the  fact,  and  say, 
"  There  is  a  man  in  the  moon,"  when  there  is  none 
except  in  fancy:  or  say,  that  this  oar-blade  in  the 
water  is  bent,  when  it  is  not,  but  only  so  appears, 
in  virtue  of  the  refraction  of  the  rays  of  light. 

But  duty  requires  that  we  inform  ourselves  as  to 
the  fact  before  we  make  positive  statements  in  re- 
gard to  it.  This  duty  is  imperative  when  the  fact 
is  not  one  of  mere  science  or  observation  or  experi- 
ment, but  is  of  morals,  affecting  some  person's  rep- 
utation. 

The  disregard  and  violation  of  this  duty  can  often 
be  noticed  in  the  utterances  of  public  speakers  and 
of  newspapers.  Willful  misstatements  and  lies  are 
sometimes  made.  These  are  so  ci'idcntly  wicked  as 
hardly  to  need  remark. 

Oftener  misstatements  are  uttered  from  a  habit  of 
zeal  without  knowledge,  and  with  no  predetermina- 
tion to  do  harm. 


VERACITY.  101 

The  speaker  or  writer  becomes  so  accustomed  to 
misrepresentation,  like  the  habitual  swearer,  to 
positive  affirmation  regarding  what  he  has  little 
or  no  knowledge  of,  that  he  acquires  the  bad 
habit  of  believing  for  the  moment  that  to  be  true 
which,  to  serve  his  present  purpose,  he  wants  to 
be  true. 

This  bad  and  wicked  habit  often  results  in  great 
injustice  and  injury  to  others  and  destroys  one's 
confidence  in  the  veracity  of  him  who  indulges 
in  this  vice;  and  when  once  the  matter  comes  to  be 
seen  in  its  true  light,  it  reacts  on  the  utterer  like  the 
cry  of  the  shepherd  boy  who  three  times  cried 
"Wolf,  wolf!"  when  there  was  no  wolf;  and  so  his 
fourth  cry  was  not  regarded  when  the  wolf  did  in 
very  fact  attack  and  destroy  his  sleep. 

There  are  many  scripture  precepts  that  enforce 
llic  virtue  of  veracity:  "Keep  thy  tongue  from 
evil,  and  thy  lips  from  speaking  guile."  (Psalm 
34:  13.)  "Lying  lips  are  abomination  to  the 
Lord."  (Proverbs  12:  22.)  "The  lip  of  truth 
shall  be  established  forever;  but  a  lying  tongue  is 
but  for  a  moment."     (Proverbs  12:   19.) 

In  the  prayer  of  Agur  we  have  this  petition, 
"  Remove  far  from  me  vanity  and  lies." 

Legislation  as  to  the  Oath  :  A  common  swearer 
is  a  common  perjurer;  too  much  familiarity  with  a 
form  of  oath  tends  to  a  disregard  of  its  sanctity ; 
hence  wise  legislation  will  introduce  very  little  affir- 
mation, if  any,  under  affirmation  by  oath,  but  will 
notice  the  precept,  "  Let  your  communications  be 
yea,  yea;  nay,  na\- ;  "  that  is,  a  simple  affirmation  or 


];t2  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

denial  without  equivocation  as  to  what  you  believe 
and  know. 

The  limitations  of  Jesus  upon  the  use  of  the  oath 
were  made  in  the  interest  of  veracity  flowing  from 
its  true  source  in  human  nature — the  love  of  truth  ; 
and  not  of  a  veracity  born  of  fear  oi"  self-interest. 
The  very  injunction  not  to  forswear  but  to  jierform 
an  oath  argues  and  proves  a  tendency  to  a  technical 
estimation  of  the  solemn  oath,  and  to  disregard  it 
under  pretext  of  mental  reservation  or  some  other 
subterfuge  deemed  sufficient  to  counteract  or  turn 
aside  its  force. 

Hence  the  injunction,  and  the  deeper  philosophy, 
and  the  true  ideal  of  Jesus,  ''  Swear  not  at  a//,"'  for 
to  a  man's  word  that  loves  truth  for  its  own  sake 
the  oath  adds  nothing;  and  for  him  who  is  a  liar  by 
nature,  and  sees  no  beauty  in  truth,  the  oath  has  no 
binding  force  unless  he  be  also  superstitious  and 
cowardly. 

But  we  do  not  want  to  educate  men  in  this  way  ; 
aj^  it  is  better,  in  seeking  truth  for  the  ends  of  jus- 
tice, to  endeavor  to  assure  the  court  of  true  testi- 
mony by  inquiry  into  the  character  and  reputation 
of  the  witness,  as  well  as  by  close  examination,  than 
it  is  to  foster  a  habit  of  trifling  with  things  sacred. 
Youth  should  be  educatetl  to  say  with  the  boy 
George  Washington,  "  /  eaiuiot  tell  a  lie!' 

This  is  what  Jesus  aimed  at;  he  was  enunciating 
principles  and  precepts  for  all  time — such  universal 
laws  as  tend  to  develop  the  true  man. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  say  or  to  assume  that  Jesus 
expected  his  principles  to  be  immediately  adopted 


VERACITr.  \%\ 

in  their  full  extent  ;  that  he  would  not,  like  Moses, 
allow  anything  for  the  perversity  and  hardness  of 
men's  hearts;  and  so  must  the  court  be  allowed  like 
latitude  of  prudence  in  the  search  for  true  testi- 
mony. Yet  obedience  to  his  precepts  requires  a 
constant  endeavor  to  attain  to  the  better  way  he 
points  out.      Herein  is  duty. 

The  usual  moralistic  viciv  of  the  oath  is  :  That 
Jesus  did  not  mean  to  forbid  ofificial  oaths. 

Scripture  narrative,  indeed,  and  all  history,  shows 
that  these  oaths  were  common,  as  they  now  arc  and 
were  spoken  of  without  reprobation  ;  but  this  proves 
nothing  as  to  a  true  theory  or  ideal  relative  to 
affirmation. 

The  true  ideal  still  is  to  so  cultivate  the  moral 
sentiments  and  faculties,  that  a  man  will  speak  the 
truth  and  do  his  duty  on  his  honor;  that  is,  because 
it  is  natural,  constitutional  and  habitual  for  him  so 
to  do,  and  practically  impossible  for  him  to  do 
otherwise. 

This  is  the  meaning  to  be  given  to  the  affirmation 
of  God,  who,  in  condescension  to  the  custom  of 
men — their  need  for  something  formal,  and  so  re- 
garded by  them  as  more  binding — swore  by  himself 
("  I  have  sworn  by  myself,  the  word  has  gone  out  of 
my  mouth  in  righteousness  and  shall  not  return  ")  ; 
that  is,  God  swore  by  his  own  constitutional  love  for 
and  adherence  to  truth,  which  act  necessarily  could 
add  nothing  at  all  to  the  certainty  of  God's  truthful- 
ness, except  that  men,  not  well  instructed  in  the 
perfections  of  Jehovah,  and  not  capable  of  appre- 
ciating them,  were  more  fully  assured.     But   this  is 

13 


J94  MORAL  AND  RELIGTOUS  SCIENCE. 

not  the  perfection  and  the  liberty  Jesus  was  incul- 
cating, nor  that  men  should  strive  for. 

Honesty:  It  is  a  trite  saying  that  "honesty  is 
the  best  policy."  This  is  true  as  one  result  of  hon- 
esty; it  turns  out  to  the  ultimate  advantage  of  him 
who  practices  it ;  but  if  practiced  for  sake  of.  this 
result,  it  is  not  pure  honesty  ;  it  has  no  virtue  in  it ; 
for  pure  honesty,  there  must  be  the  love  of  it. 

Cicero  makes  three  general  heads  on  duty :  (i) 
Honest  or  dishonest,  (2)  Profitable  or  unprofitable, 
(3)  How,  in  case  what  seems  honest  is  contra  to  what 
seems  profitable?  He  arrives  at  the  conclusion  that 
"  Honesty  and  profit  are  inseparable." 

There  are  two  degrees  of  honesty:  (i)  Honesty 
in  intention,  (2)  in  both  intention  and  fact ;  or,  we 
may  say,  honesty  of  purpose  conjoined  with  wisdom 
in  action. 

Deceit :  To  buy  or  to  borrow  without  intention 
or  reasonable  expectation  of  paying  or  returning  is 
to  obtain  goods  on  false  pretenses  and  is  base 
deceit. 

To  sell  a  horse,  ox,  sheep,  house,  lands,  goods,  or 
anything  that  has  a  defect  in  quality  or  title  con- 
cealed from  the  buyer,  yet  known  to  the  owner,  is 
of  like  character. 

To  buy  at  prices  lower  than  the  real  value,  or  to 
sell  at  higher  than  the  real,  on  information,  true  or 
false,  privately  obtained  in  advance  of  public  news, 
for  purpose  of  taking  advantage:  of  somebody's  ig- 
norance, knowing  that  the  man  you  deal  with  will 
suffer  by  the  transaction,  is  an  act  contra  to  good 
sound  morals. 


VEHACiry.  in.T 

To  deceive  an  enemy  by  an  appeal  to  the  sympa- 
thies of  the  human  soul  only  to  entrap  him  into 
your  power  is  a  base  act.  In  the  siege  of  Troy,  the 
deceit  of  the  Greek  in  the  wooden-horse  affair 
(instar  Montis  equus)  is  an  instance  in  point.  On 
the  other  hand,  Virgil  rather  justifies  the  proposal 
of  the  Trojan  youth,  Chorcebus,  to  his  comrades  to 
disguise  themselves  in  the  armor  of  the  slain  Greeks. 
This  is  his  note  of  philosophy  ;  thus  : 

Dolus,  an  virtus,  quis  in  hoste  requirat  ! " 

—^^netd,  Lib.  II,  300. 
Deceit  or  courage,  who  in  an  enemy  inquires  about  it  ! 

This  fighting  under  false  colors  would  ordinarily 
be  unjustifiable  and  piratical ;  but  in  this  case  the 
Trojans  had  been  surprised  by  the  impious  fraud  of 
the  Greeks,  and  hence  in  self-defense  they  were  jus- 
tified in  the  use  of  means  otherwise  questionable. 

The  ethic-principle  on  which  deceit  is  to  be  con- 
demned is  that  all  deceit  and  lying  is  contra  to 
man's  social  nature — hence  is  unnatural  and  abomi- 
nable, and  is  condemned  by  all  law,  human  and 
divine. 

In  the  prosecution  of  war  by  hostile  nations, 
some  kinds  of  deceit  are  regarded  as  allowable ; 
other  kinds  as  dishonorable  and  execrable.  As  to 
the  first  kind,  it  should  be  noticed  t^iat  war  itself  is 
an  abnormal  condition  of  human  nature,  and 
while  it  lasts  it  is  to  be  expected  that  there  will  be 
violations  of  good  morals. 

Remark :  Kant  held  that  deceit  is  never  allowa- 
ble, and  his  opinion   is   not   to  be  lightly  esteemed. 


106  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

This,  too,  is  the  opinion  of  those  who  say  that  de- 
ceit is  not  allowable  even  in  self-defense,  as  when 
held  up  by  a  highwayman,  or  menaced  by  a  burglar 
who  demands  your  money  or  your  life.  If  you  de- 
ceive him,  say  these  casuists,  he  will  be  tempted  to 
take  revenge  on  the  next  man  he  meets.  The  suffi- 
cient reply  to  this  is,  that  the  outlaw,  in  virtue  of 
his  antagonism  to  society,  has  no  claim  on  you  for 
veracity,  and  that  he  should  not  be  allowed  to  have 
opportunity  to  meet  another  man  ;  but  that  it  is  the 
duty  of  government  immediately  to  track  him  and 
hunt  him  down,  and  consign  him  to  the  peniten- 
tiary or  the  gibbet. 

Principles  and  Practice,  Robinson,  page  224,  has 
this  foot-note  : 

"  Said  one  of  tlie  older  citizens  of  Lawrence,  Kansas,  to  the 
writer  a  few  years  ago,  '  I  never,  in  all  mj  life,  was  in  so  tight  a 
place  as  when  one  of  QiiantrelTs  band  in  the  great  raid  of  1863, 
with  the  muzzle  of  a  cocked  pistol  close  to  my  head,  demanded 
to  know  if  I  was  an  abolitionist.  The  raiders  were  shooting 
down  mv  neighbors  all  about  me  ;  but  the  thought  flashed 
through  my  mind,  if  I  say  No  I  I  shall  ever  afterwards  be 
ashamed  to  look  anyone  in  the  face  ;  so  I  answered.  Yes.  An 
officer  in  command  standing  near,  for  some  reason,  I  never  knew 
what,  shouted,  "  Don't  shoot  him  '  "'  " 

It  is  probable  this  Kansas  man  did  exactly  the 
best  thing,  but  not  best  for  any  reason  he  gives.  In 
fact  he  did  wrong,  unless  he  had  some  ground  of 
confidence  in  the  moral  sagacity  of  the  man,  or  else 
of  the  officer  standing  by,  to  sec  incongruity  and 
cowardice  in  the  shooting  of  a  man  so  brave  for  the 
truth.     For  sake  of  a   mistaken  sentiment,  he  had 


VERACITT.  197 


no  right  to  risk  his  Hfc  by  "  casting  pearls  before 
swine." 

Experience  proves  that  in  very  many  instances 
moral  considerations  avail  not  with  outlaws.  The 
true  course  for  a  man  in  a  strait  of  this  sort  is  to 
quickly  determine  as  best ,  he  can  the  chances  in 
favor  of  truth  or  of  deceit.  Circumstances,  and 
not  solely  sentiment,  should  enter  into  the  decision. 
Must  not  this  be  the  reasonable  verdict  notwith- 
standing contra  authorities  of  a  high  order? 

Casuistry  is  the  determination  of  cases  of  con- 
science. The  conscience  is  imperfectly  developed, 
specially  so  in  children  and  in  unenlightened  grown 
persons.  It  is  necessary  for  the  parent  and  the 
teacher  to  instruct  the  child  as  to  the  right  and 
wrong  in  its  moral  acts.  "  This  is  right,  that  is 
wrong-— You  should  do,  or  should  have  done,  this ; 
or  the  contra," — to  act  towards  the  child  the  part 
of  a  casuist.  In  this  process  of  education,  the  child 
is  gradually  fitted  to  become  its  own  casuist,  by  a 
habit  of  self-examination,  and  a  careful  study  of  the 
intention  in  its  own  thoughts  and  deeds  as  pure  or 
impure,  wise  or  unwise. 

This  should  be  a  leading  object  in  moral  and 
religious  education — the  attainment  of  indi\'idual 
knowledge  and  power  to  determine  the  right  in 
one's  own  acts. 

The  Jesuits,  three  hundred  years  ago,  in  the  zenith 
of  their  power,  had  a  monopoly  of  the  ofifice  of  the 
casuist.  But  the  times  of  this  ignorance  and  of 
swaddling-bands  for  the  conscience  has  gone  b\' 
under    the     cnli<ditenment    of     moral     science     and 


198         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

Christian  ethics  interpreted  by  gospel  souyiberty, 
whereby  the  divanity  within — the  enlightened  con- 
science— is  each  man's  own  best  casuist  ;  not,  how- 
ever, that  any  man  has  attained  to  perfection,  or 
that  anyone  is  too  good  for  instruction  or  for  re- 
proof ;  and,  too,  confession  of  faults  is  good  for  the 
soul ;  "  Confess  your  faults  one  to  another,  and  pray 
one  for  another." 

For  this  there  are  appropriate  times  and  seasons 
as  the  moral  and  spiritual  condition  of  each  re- 
quires. Let  every  man  be  fully  persuaded  in  his 
own  mind,  and  so  use  his  liberty  as  they  who  must 
render  an  account  thereof — without  asserting  inde^ 
pendence  of  the  opinions  and  advice  of  others, 
specially  of  those  whose  attainments  and  office  fit 
them  to  instruct — and,  too,  without  putting  one's 
conscience  into  the  keeping  of  any  man,  lest  he 
abuse  the  trust,  by  a  too  easy  admittance  of  such 
motives  as  this,  "  the  end  justifies  the  means;  "  and 
lest  thereby  the  conscience  become  weak  and  cor- 
rupt, and  self-reliance,  individuality  and  personal 
liberty  be  lost,  as  it  was  among  the  Jesuits  in  their 
da)',  where  the  rules  of  the  order,  right  or  w  rong, 
must  be  implicitly  obeyed  ;  yc-t  by  c\cry  proper 
means — by  a  scrupulous  regard  for  truth  and  hon- 
esty, by  confession  to  God  and  men  — the  conscience 
must  be  kc})t  alive  antl  active  in  its  monitorial  office, 
as  the  inner  guardian  of  the  right;  for  nothing 
should  be  so  dreaded,  or  is  so  dangerous  to  the  final 
peace  of  men,  as  a  seared  and  dead  conscience. 

The  lit  hie  ill  Cosiiisfrv  is,  that  with  an  enlight- 
ened sensitive  conscience,  cases  of  conscience  admit 


REPUTATION.  VM 


in  geiK^ral  of  ready  solution  ;  that  without  this  en- 
lightenment and  sensibility  no  rule  will  have  real 
value. 

62.  Repl'I'ATION. — "A  good  name  is  rather  to  be 
chosen  than  great  riches."  This  maxim  of  the  wise 
man  is  fully  endorsed  by  experience.  The  true 
man,  whatever  his  station  and  calling,  values  a  good 
name  more  than  any  temporary  advantage,  for  repu- 
tation once  lost  is  very  difficult  to  recover;  and  with- 
out it  all  other  possessions  arc  a  mockery. 

^\\^  motives  [ox  injuring  another's  reputation  are 
varied;  sometimes  from  desire  to  avenge  an  insult, 
fancied  or  real ;  sometimes  to  get  the  ad\'antage  of 
a  rival  for  popular  favor,  social  or  political  ;  often 
from  mere  thoughtlessness  and  love  of  talk  and 
notoriety. 

These  motives  are  alh  bad,  and  the  acts  they  lead 
to  are  more  or  less  criminal — the  robbery  of  one's 
neighbor,  so  far  as  such  means  influence,  of  his  most 
valuable  possession.  Fortunately  sensible  people 
pay  little  attention  to  idle  tales,  and  the  slanderer 
harms  chiefly  himself  in  reputation,  and  lays  himself 
liable  to  severe  punishment,  if  his  victim  shuulil 
think  it  necessary  to  resort  to  the  law  for  redress. 

There  is,  too,  a  peculiar  incaiiiicss  in talkingabout, 
perhaps  gloating  over,  the  faults  of  others,  when  it 
does  no  good,  when  there  is  no  good  end  in  view — 
especially  o\'er  faults  long  ago  committed — slips 
made  partly  from  inexperience  and  lack  of  proper 
moral  training,  and  a  wise  perception  of  moral  rela- 
tions—rights,  duties    and    obligations — rather    than 


200         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

from  an   evil   disposition^ — the   love  and    desire    for 
wrong-doing-. 

The  person  maligned  for  these  sins  may  long 
since  have  repented  of  them,  and  be  standing  to- 
day on  a  much  higher  plane  of  moralit}-.  in  thought, 
soul  and  act,  than  his  would-be  traducer. 


division  iv.    institutions. 

63.  Institutions,  as  to  Origin  and  Charac- 
ter.— Their  name  is  legion,  from  the  institutions  of 
nature  and  those  logically  derived  therefrom,  to  the 
minor  artificial  organizations  devised  and  estab- 
lished by  man  for  various  purposes,  such  as  the  an- 
cient institution  of  Free  Masons;  of  Chivalry;  or 
the  more  modern  ones  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias; 
the  Knights  of  Labor,  or  in  general  labor  unions  ; 
the  board  of  trade  and  a  hundred  others. 

Patriarchal,  tribal  and  national  forms  of  govern- 
ment are  not  instances  of  the  artificial ;  but  rather 
of  institutions  either  natural  or  logical. 

Chief  are  the  institutions  of  marriage  and  of  the 
Sabbath,  introduced  by  Divine  appointment  at  the 
close  of  the  creation.  The  discussion  of  these  will  be 
found  each  under  its  own  head. 

Institutions,  as  to  Their  Character :  Institutions 
such  as  the  church,  the  public  school,  the  temper- 
ance society,  the  Order  of  Free  Masons,  Odd  Fel- 
lows, and  many  other  organizations,  may  have  in 
themselves  moral  tendencies;  but  moral  obligation 
and  duty  are  in  the  individuals  that  belong  to  and 


IXSTITL'TIOA'S;  OJi/G/A',   CHARACTER.     201 

support  the  institution;  and  each  individual  member 
of  an  institution  is  morally  responsible  just  in  accord 
with  the  moral  tendency  of  the  institution  he  helps 
to  maintain. 

In  general,  institutions  are  moral  or  immoral  just 
as  they  are  or  are  not  organized  on  principles  of 
sound  morality.  Thus  marriage  and  the  Sabbath,  in 
their  civil  aspect,  are  moral  so  far  as  the  require- 
ments of  the  law  and  custom  are  in  accord  with  the 
laws  of  nature. 

Mormon  marriage  is  not  moral,  because  it  violates 
the  law  of  nature.  So  the  church,  as  an  institution, 
is  moral  as  well  as  religious,  because  the  design  of  it 
is  the  public  w^orship  of  the  true  God,  in  accord 
with  the  first  commandment  of  the  moral  law,  as 
w'ell  as  with  the  inculcation  of  the  entire  decalogue 
and  of  the  moral  precepts  that  abound  in  the  teach- 
ing of  Jesus.  If,  however,  a  church  teaches  and 
practices  the  persecution  of  those  it  calls  heretics, 
the  indi\'idual  members  of  that  church  are  violators 
of  the  sixth  commandment,  "  Thou  shalt  not  kill ;  " 
and  they  must  be  classed  and  punished  as  persecu- 
tors and  murderers,  unless  they  protest  and  act 
against  the  crime,  and  manifest  a  readiness  to  sacri- 
nce  themselves,  if  need  be,  in  the  expulsion  from 
their  institution  of  the  immoral  doctrine,  and  the 
immoral  utterers  of  it.  Their  reward  for  manly  ac- 
tion would  surely  follow- — the  blessedness  in  the 
tiighth  beatitude,  *'  Blessed  are  they  which  are  perse- 
cuted for  righteousness  sake,  for  theirs  is  the  king- 
dom of  heaven." 

Members  of  temperance  and  of  benevolent  societies 


202         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

arc  as  individuals  morally  responsible  for  the  moral 
tendency  of  those  societies  w  hich  may  be  good  or 
bad  just  in  accord  with  the  wisdom  or  foolishness  of 
their  organization  and  management. 

So,  if  the  "  board  of  trade  "  departs  from  its 
proper  function  as  a  guardian,  conservator  and  pro- 
moter of  the  business  aflairs  and  interests  of  their 
city  and  community,  and  from  legitimate  trade, 
which  is  designed  to  be,  and  which  generally  is,  bene- 
ficial to  all  parties  engaged  in  it,  and  if  it  indulges 
in  mere  speculative,  unreal  transactions — its  individ- 
ual members  buying  and  selling  fictitious  merchan- 
dise— wherein  one  man  must  lose  what  another 
gains — it  is  mere  gambling,  a  vice  and  sin  that  is  for- 
bidden by  the  tenth  commandment;  which  sin  each 
and  every  member  of  a  board  of  trade  so  constituted 
is  guilty  of,  and  for  which  he  is  morally  responsible. 

And  so  it  is  as  to  the  responsibility  of  each  citi- 
zen in  the  matter  of  licensing  the  saloon,  and  in 
compromising  with  the  gambling  dens  and  others  of 
ill  repute. 

The  theatre  is  an  institution  for  the  healthy 
amusement  and  improvement  of  the  people,  but 
may  be  for  their  corruption  ;  unfortunately  the  ten- 
dency is  largely  in  this  latter  direction.  Theatre- 
goers and  the  negligent  guardian  of  morals  cannot 
escape  responsibility. 

The  public  school,  as  an  institution  being  directly 
iiitellecual  and  moral,  and  indirectly  religious  and 
political,  can  be  classified  as  educational,  because  the 
idea  of  education  runs  through  all  its  objects; 
namel)',  the  develo[)ment  of  the  intellect  in   a   c^n\^- 


THE  IDEA  IN  I NSTITUTIOXS.  203 

patent  knowledge  of  literature  and  science,  and 
specially  the  cultivation  of  the  moral  and  religious 
sentiments,  and  so  it  does  not  perform  its  proper 
function  as  an  educator  of  youth  when  merely  the 
intellect  is  cultivated ;  for  education  consists  in 
drawing  out  all  the  good  native  faculties  of  the  soul; 
and  this  is  the  province  of  the  public  school,  so  far 
as  it  is  practicable  through  its  instrumentality. 

To  say,  then,  that  the  public  school  should  not 
and  cannot  educate  in  the  science  of  morals,  includ- 
ing its  relation  to  religion,  is  to  occupy  an  untena- 
ble and  immoral  standpoint  in  the  all-important 
matter  of  education,  and  it  becomes  each  citizen  to 
see  how  far  his  own  responsibility  in  the  matter 
extends. 

64.  The  Idea  ix  Institutions. — The  general 
idea  of  an  institution  is  well  shown  in  Lieber's  "Civil 
Liberty,"  and  we  make  quotation  thus: 

"An  institution  is  a  system  or  body  of  usages,  laws 
or  regulations  of  extensive  and  recurring  operation, 
containing  within  itself  an  organism  by  which  it 
effects  its  own  independent  action,  continuance,  ami 
generally  its  own  further  development.  Its  object 
is  to  generate,  effect,  regulate  or  sanction  a  succes- 
sion of  acts,  transactions  or  productions  of  a  peculiar 
kind  or  class. 

"The  idea  of  an  institution  implies  a  degree  of 
self-government.  Laws  act  through  human  agents, 
and  tiiese  are,  in  the  case  of  institutions,  their  officers 
or  members. 

"  VVc  are  likewise  in  the  habit  of  calling  single  laws 


204         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

or  usages  (which  are  laws  of  spontaneous  growth) 
institutions,  if  their  operation  is  of  vital  importance 
and  vast  scope,  and  if  their  continuance  is  in  a  high 
degree  independent  of  any  interfering  power. 

"Thus  we  call  marriage  an  institution  in  considera- 
tion of  its  pervading  importance,  its  extensive 
operation,  the  innumerable  relations  it  affects,  and 
the  securit}-  which  Its  continuance  enjoys  in  the 
conviction  of  almost  all  men,  against  any  attempts  at 
its  abolition. 

"  Indeed  we  generally  mean  by  the  institution  of 
marriage  pretty  much  the  institution  of  the  family ; 
that  is,  the  family  as  a  community  sanctioned  and 
fortified  by  the  law,  by  authoritative  usages,  and  by 
religion — the  cluster  of  laws  and  usages,  social,  polit- 
ical and  religious,  which  relate  to  this  w^ell  defined 
community." 

It  always  forms  a  prominent  element  in  the  idea 
of  an  institution,  whether  the  term  be  taken  in  the 
strictest  sense  or  not,  that  it  is  a  group  of  laws, 
usages  and  operations  standing  in  close  relation  to 
one  another,  and  forming  an  independent  whole, 
with  a  united  and  distinguishing  character  of  its  own. 

"The  school,"  that  is  to  say,  "the  whole  school 
system,  as  well  as  the  modern  national  army  in 
Prussia,  have  been  called  institutions,  when  it  was 
desired  to  express  the  idea  that  they  are  establish- 
ments of  vast  importance,  and  that  they  enjoy  a 
supposed  degree  of  independent  vitality." 

Dr.  Thos,  Arnold,  by  "the  institution,"  understands 
such  officers,  orders  of  men,  public  bodies,  settle- 
ments of  property,  customs  or  regulations,  concern- 


/JVS TI T U TI ONS ;  NA  T URA L,  LOGICAL.      205 

iiif^  matters  of  general  usage,  as  do  not  owe  their 
existence  to  any  express  law  or  laws;  but  having 
originated  in  various  ways,  at  a  period  of  remote 
antiquity,  are  already  parts  of  the  national  system, 
at  the  very  beginning  of  our  historical  view  of  it, 
and  are  recognized  by  all  actual  laws  as  being  them- 
selves a  kind  of  primary  condition  on  which  all 
recorded  legislation  proceeds. 

Dr.  Lieber  criticizes  this  view  of  Arnold's  as  re- 
stricting the  meaning  of  institution  to  institutions  of 
growth,  and  as  not  including  those  arising  from 
enactments  of  law.  Further,  "nor  is  it  accurate  to 
call  certain  officers,  or  orders  of  men,  institutions — 
they  are  but  temporary  members  of  the  perpetual 
institution." 

However,  the  "  ofificers  or  orders  of  men"  may  by 
Dr.  Arnold  be  regarded  as  merely  representing  the 
principles  of  the  institution  ;  and  so  by  them  the 
institution  is  personified  as  to  its  principles.  Hence 
the  second  part  of  the  criticism  has  little  force,  whilst 
the  first  part  holds,  provided  Dr.  Arnold  really  in- 
tended to  rule  out  a  legal  origin  for  an  institution. 

65.  Institutions,  Natural,  Logical,  Arti- 
ficial— The  Conjugal  Relation,  Natural. — Marriage 
merging  into  the  family,  with  its  several  offices 
and  duties  of  mutual  respect,  love  and  affection  ;  of 
cares;  home  amusements;  joys ;  happiness,  and  do- 
mestic bliss,  with  its  industries,  frugalities,  trials 
and  discipline,  is  a  natural  institution,  because  it 
necessarily  arises  from  the  constitution  of  human 
nature. 


20G  MORAL  AXD  RELKilOUS  SCIENCE. 

The  Scibbat/i  Natural,  Logical. — The  Sabbath, 
arising  primarily  from  need  of  rest  after  six  days  of 
work,  is  so  far  a  natural  institution.  The  other 
features  of  the  institution,  as  of  a  time  for  contem- 
plation of  the  universe,  and  of  one's  relations  to  the 
Creator  and  to  man,  with  the  ennobling  thoughts^ 
and  feelings  of  joy  and  delight,  that  should  and 
would  result  under  normal  conditions,  are  logical. 
They  arise  from  a  natural  procedure  of  thought  and 
reasoning,  from  the  idea  of  what  kind  of  thoughts, 
feelings  and  acts  should  naturally  accompany  a 
season  of  hallowed  rest. 

The  State  Natural,  Logical,  Artificial. — The  State 
is  a  natural  institution  as  to  its  leading  feature,  gov- 
ernment. Order  is  nature's  first  law,  and  there  must 
be  order  among  men  as  a  people  or  nation  ;  and  there 
cannot  be,  without  subordination  to  law  formulated 
in  institutional  government,  be  it  autocratic  or 
democratic. 

That  is,  from  a  natural  desire  for  good  society  and 
good  government  men  come  together  to  organize 
themselves  into  a  state,  a  government  for  the  people  ; 
unless  this  organization  has  naturally  been  effected 
for  them  by  a  general  acquiescence  in  the  rule  of  a 
leader,  be  he  called  chief,  king  or  sovereign. 

Thus  far  the  state  formation  is  natural. 

Hut  now  if  subinstitutions  are  devised,  and  arc 
carried  into  effect  to  secure  to  the  state  a  firm  foun- 
dation, and  a  due  regard  for  right  and  justice,  these 
subinstitutions  arc;  the  logical  outcome  of  the  original 
natural  predisposition  in  humanity  to  the  state 
organization. 


/XST/nr/OXS:  logical,  A/rL/F/C/AL.    -Ml 

Thus  the  subordinate  and  constituent  institutions 
of  the  state,  the  legislature,  the  judiciary,  the  exec- 
utive, as  branches,  are  severally  in  themselves  logical 
institutions. 

State  laws  and  institutions  are  artificial,  when 
they  do  not  naturally  nor  logically  flow  from  the 
proper  idea  of  a  state. 

Thus  in  England,  Spain,  Russia,  Germany, 
Austria,  and  in  most  civilized  lands,  there  exists  a 
union  of  church  and  state.  This  union  means  that 
the  power  and  influence  of  the  religious  sentiment 
centered  in  a  church  organization  is  united  and 
consolidated  with  the  natural  and  logical  con- 
stituents of  the  state  so  as  to  become  a  part  of  state 
government,  or  one  of  the  powers  of  the  realm. 
Thus  in  England  there  arose,  perhaps  artificially,  a 
division  of  interests.  Some  men,  comparatively  few, 
became  possessors  and  owners  of  land.  Others  were 
engaged  in  manufacturing  and  in  mercantile  pur- 
suits: hence  two  classes  of  citizens,  with  distinct  in- 
terests, logically  became  resolved  into  two  estates  of 
the  realm  or  kingdom  ;  the  lords  of  the  lands  rep- 
resenting what  is  justly  regarded  as  the  permanent 
interest,  and  the  manufacturing  and  mercantile  as 
rather  the  progressive  interest. 

Now  naturally  and  logically  there  is  somewhere  a 
third  interest  or  estate,  to  hold  in  even  balance  or 
equilibrium  the  entire  action  of  governmental 
power. 

This  third  estate  or  power  should  naturally  be 
sought  for  and  found  in  the  wisdom  and  influence  of 
the  wise  and  the  goqd.     Not  long  ago  the  clergy  rep- 


208  MORAL  AXD  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

resented  the  most  of  the  learning  of  the  people; 
hence,  in  the  higher  dignitaries  of  the  church,  in  the 
bishops,  archbishops,  was  vested  the  third  estate ; 
and  from  their  profession  and  ofificial  character  as 
religionists  and  rulers  in  the  church,  it  was  illogically 
inferred  that  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  their  creed  con- 
stituted the  learning  anci  wisdom  that  the  third  estate 
stands  for — was  intended  to  represent. 

Thus  in  lieu  of  a  natural  and  logical  third  estate, 
grounded  in  literature  and  science  ;  in  the  moral  and 
religious  sentiments;  in  the  wisdom  of  mankind,  and 
in  the  necessary,  catholic  and  universally  admitted 
doctrines  and  precepts  of  scripture  revelation,  we  find 
an  artificial  third  estate  set  up,  the  credo  of  whatever 
sect  or  branch  of  the  Christian  church  might,  for  the 
time  being,  chance  to  be  in  the  ascendency,  or  hold 
the  preeminence. 

For  instance,  England's  Henry  VIII  was  entitled 
by  the  Pope  "Defender  of  the  Faith;"  then  by  act 
of  parliament,  under  pressure  of  the  king's  own  will, 
he  was  styled  "Head  of  the  English  Church." 

Religion  had  nothing  at  all  to  do  with  this  shift- 
ing attitude  of  Henry  VIII,  in  the  formal  profession 
of  it.  It  was  entirely  due  to  the  fancied  self-interest, 
caprice  and  unholy  passion  of  a  man  void  of  spirit- 
uality, and  whose  way  of  life  rendered  him  incapable 
of  it. 

Whatever  religious  opinions  Henry  for  the  time 
being  might  think  it  politic  to  adopt,  these  he  sought 
to  enforce  upon  his  subjects.  Under  his  reign  is 
well  illustrated  the  artificial  character  of  the  church 
as  a  national  institution. 


/XSTITCT/OXS;  LOGICAL,  ARTIFICIAL.    209 

The  futile  endeavor  of  the  unfortunate  Charles  I, 
of  England,  and  of  his  son,  James  II,  to  impose 
their  own  religious  opinions  upon  the  people  and  the 
national  character,  and  the  miserable  results  in  the 
turbulent  times  of  the  Commonwealth,  affords  an- 
other conspicuous  instance  of  the  folly  of  attempt- 
ing to  enforce  relations  that  do  not  exist  in  nature  ; 
tiiat  is,  to  commingle  ecclesiastical  rule  and  state 
government. 

Rdiicatioi^-AXwrAX:  Man,  by  nature,  seeks  truth, 
not  onl}'  from  a  single  desire  for  knowledge, but  also 
on  account  of  the  sympathetic  and  social  feelings 
natural  to  man,  and  his  endowment  with  intellectual 
faculties,  and  the  gift  of  speech  and  song,  there  is 
specially  in  youth,  generally  in  man,  a  tendency  to 
congregate  for  discussion  for  mutual  improvement  in 
arts,  social,  civil  and  martial. 

So  far  as  this  is  prompted  by  a  natural  desire  for 
interchange  of  thought,  and  a  love  of  truth,  educa- 
tion has  a  natural  origin,  and  educational  institu- 
tions rnay  properly  be  called  natural  institutions. 

The  Public  School  Natural,  Logical :  The  public 
school,  then,  for  instruction  in  what  pertains  to  the 
formation  of  enlightened,  patriotic  and  good  citi- 
zens, is  rooted  and  grounded  in  the  nature  of  man, 
and  thus  there  is  valid  authority  for  the  public 
school  as  possessing  a  highly  ethic  character,  from 
the  moral  aspects  and  relations  that  necessarily  per- 
tain to  it,  as  an  institution— as  a  means  for  educat- 
ing the  people,  for  individual  and  for  public  ends. 

The  ground  for  its  existence  is  not  in  a  mere  mat- 
ter of  opinion,  but  is  in  man's  nature,  and  the  fea- 

14 


210         MORAL  AND  REL/GIOCS  .SCIENCE. 

turcs  and  provisions  of  the  public  school  institution 
should  be  logical,  the  necessary  product  of  the  right 
use  of  reason  in  adapting  educational  methods  and 
appliances  to  the  proper  end^^of  the  public  school, 
in  accord  with  the  true  idea  of  it. 

66.  The  Sabbath. — Every  law  of  the  moral  code 
is  of  the  highest  value  to  the  well  being  of  man  ; 
and  the  law  of  the  Sabbath,  or  day  of  rest,  is  not  to 
be  at  all  slighted.  Yet  partly  from  the  perversity  of 
human  nature,  and  partly  from  some  little  difficulty 
in  comprehending  the  scope  of  the  law,  and  the 
need  of  study  to  discern  its  right  application,  men 
are  ready  to  hold  Sabbath-day  observance  in  light  es- 
teem, and  to  interpret  its  requirements  with  much 
latitude. 

The  experience  of  man  has  shown  that  a  period- 
ical cessation  of  bodily  and  mental  toil  is  necessary 
to  the  maintenance  of  health,  that  the  physical  con- 
stitution, when  subjected  to  tlie  strain  of  regular 
work,  will  be  impaired,  and  sooner  or  later  will 
break  down,  unless  relieved  by  fegular  intervals  of 
rest,  recreation  or  change  to  emplovments  that  call 
into  activity  other  faculties. 

In  1832,  the  English  parliament  instituted  sys- 
tematic and  extensive  inquiries,  and  from  the  testi- 
mony of  medical  men,  and  other  scientists,  as  well 
as  of  those  in  industrial  pursuits,  it  was  shown  that 
in  an  economic  point  of  view  as  to  health  and  good 
work,  a  sabbatical  da)-  of  rest  is  needed.  Indeed, 
the  experience  of  every  man  who  has  noted  the  re- 
sults proves  it. 


THE  SABBATH.  211 


More  recently,  in  Germany,  the  subject  has  been 
much  discussed — not  so  much  on  rehgious  grounds— ^ 
as  on  the  ground  of  overwork  for  the  body. 

In  1872  the  government  was  petitioned  to  protect, 
by  enactment  of  law,  workingmen  against  employ- 
ers who  required  them  to  work  on  Sunday,  and  a 
commission  was  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  best 
mode  of  effecting  such  protection — there  being  no 
question  on  the  part  of  either  the  government  or  of 
the  people  as  to  the  desirability  of  the -Sabbath-day's 
rest.  But  the  problem  was  how  to  obtain  it  without 
interfering  with  industrial  pursuits  necessary  to 
meet  the  wants  of  the  needy  people ;  and  here  it 
might  well  be  inquired  whether  it  is  necessary  and 
right  that  conditions  of  life  should  obtain — such  co!i- 
ditions  as  do  prevent  a  due  observance  of  the  Sab- 
bath. 

But  the  authoritative  law  for  a  "  day  of  rest"  we 
find  in  Holy  Writ,  in  the  Bible  narrative  of  Creation. 
Thus,  after  reciting  that  in  six  days  "  the  heavens 
and  the  earth  were  finished  and  all  the  host  of  them," 
Genesis  2:2.3,  reads  :  "And  on  the  seventh  da}-  God 
ended  his  work  which  he  had  made;  and  he  rested 
on  the  seventh  day  from  all  his  work  \\hich  he  had 
made.  And  God  blessed  the  seventh  da}-  and  sanc- 
tified it,  because  that  in  it  he  had  rested  from  all  his 
work  which  God  created  and  made." 

Here  we  have  the  institution  of  the  Sabbath,  or 
the  day  of  rest,  which  day  is  blessed  from  the  good 
effects  resulting  to  man  on  account  of  its  institu- 
tion ;  and  is  hallowed  or  made  holy  because  the  rest 
gives    man    an    opportunity    to    contemplate    with 


212  MORAL  AND  RELKilOUS  SCIENCE. 

proper  feelings  of  admiration  and  veneration  the 
completed  works  of  God,  and  his  own  relation  to  the 
great  Creator. 

God  himself,  at  the  close  of  his  six  days'  work, 
pronounced  his  own  work  good,  doubtless  with  a  Di- 
vine sentient  feeling  of  pure  pleasure,  admiration 
and  joy  over  the  beauty  and  grandeur  of  his  own 
designs. 

In  reason,  then,  the  Creator  should  rest  after  a 
given  series  of  toil — to  look  back  upon  his  work  and 
to  see  that  it  was  good,  and  to  consecrate  its  com- 
pletion by  a  day  of  rest — of  hallowed  rest — time 
restful  not  only  to  the  body,  but  to  the  soul  of 
man,  in  contemplation  of  those  starry  heavens 
that  "  declare  the  glory  of  God,"  and  of  that  last 
day's  work — man,  in  whose  soul-constitution  are 
"  the  unwritten  laws"  of  God,  as  if  written  and 
graven  with  his  own  finger  on  tablets  of  imperish- 
able stone. 

"  Iliiw  still  tJK'  morning  of  the  Imllow'd  duv  ! 
Miitf  is  the  vciicc  of  rural  labor  ;   hvish'd 
The  ploughboj's  whistle  and  the  milkmaid's  song. 
The  scythe  lies  glittering  in  the  dewy  wreath 
Of  tedded  grass,  mingled  w  ith  faded  flowers 
That  yester-morn  bloomcti  waving  in  the  breeze. 
Sounds  the  most  faint  attract  the  ear — the  hum 
Of  early  bee.  the  trickling  of  the  dew, 
The  distant  bleating  midway  up  the  hill. 
Calmness  seems  throned  on  yon  unmoving  cloud. 

With  dove-like  wings.  Peace  o'er  yon  village  broods, 
The  dizzying  mill-wheel  rests  ;  the  anvil's  din 
Hath  ceased  ;  all,  all  around  is  quietness. 
Less  fearful  on  this  day  the  limping  hare 


JiEASOJVS  FOR  A   SABBATH-DAV.  'Ji;] 


Stops  and  looks  back,  and  stops  and  looks  on  man, 

Her  deadliest  foe.     The  toil-worn  horse  set  free, 

Unheedful  of  the  pasture,  roams  at  large, 

And  as  his  stiil",  unwieldy  bulk  he  rolls. 

His  iron-armed  hoofs  gleam  in  the  morning  ray. 

But  chiefly  man  the  day  of  rest  enjoys. 
Hail  Sabbath  1  thee  I  hail,  the  poor  man's  day  ! 
On  other  days  the  man  of  toil  is  doomed 
To  eat  his  joyless  bread  lonely,  the  ground 
Both  seat  and  board  screened  from  the  winter's  cold 
And  summer's  heat  by  neighboring  hedge  or  tree  ; 
But  on  this  day,  embosom'd  in  his  home, 
He  shares  the  frugal  meal  with  those  he  loves  ; 
With  those  he  loves,  he  shares  the  heartfelt  joy 
Of  giving  thanks  to  God — not  thanks  of  form, 
A  word  and  a  grimace,  but  reverently, 
With  covered  face  and  upward  earnest  eye. 
Hail  Sabbath  !  thee  I  hail,  the  poor  man's  day  !  " 

Grahames  Sabbath  Mom. 

6-j.  Origin— Reasons  for  a  Sabbath-day  In- 
STITUTI()N. — The  reasons  given  for  the  institution 
and  observance  of  the  Sabbath  may  be  formally 
stated  thus  : 

God  rested — We  are  enjoined  to  do  likewise; 

God  blessed— The  observance  of  the  day  is  accom- 
panied with  blessings  to  man  ; 

God  sanctified — Set  apart  from  common  to  sacred 
use. 

In  the  first  ages  of  man's  era,  doubtless  the  Sab- 
bath as  thus  ordained,  as  a  universal  law,  was  ob- 
served by  all  the  peoples  of  the  earth  ;  and  under 
Divine  authority  was  known  and  regarded,  till  men, 
following  their  own  evil  imaginations,  began  to  for- 
get God. 


214         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

Even  the  Israelites,  the  chosen  people,  had  be- 
come very  lax  as  to  the  Sabbath ;  hence  the  need  of 
a  stringent  law  to  enforce  it ;  hence  the  first  word  of 
the  fourth  commandment,  "Remember" — "Re- 
member the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy" — points 
to'  something  before  known,  and  which  now  must 
not  be  forgotten. 

The  formal  institution  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath  was 
prior  to  the  law  of  the  Sabbath  in  the  fourth  com- 
mandment. It  was  upon  the  occasion  of  the  dou- 
ble supply  of  manna  on  the  sixth  day.  "  On  the 
sixth  day  they  gathered  twice  as  much  bread  ;  two 
omers  for  one  man.  "-  "-  -  This  is  that  which 
the  Lord  hath  said :  To-morrow  is  the  rest  of  the 
hoi}'  Sabbath  unto  the  Lord.  "-  "  '^  To-day  is 
a  Sabbath  unto  the  Lord  ;  to-day  ye  shall  not  find  it 
in  the  field.  Six  days  ye  shall  gather  it,  but  on  the 
seventh  day,  the  Sabbath,  in  it  there  shall  be  none." 
(Exodus  i6:  22-26.) 

There  is  no  intimation  that  the  manna  began  to 
appear  on  .the  first  day  of  a  week  whose  seventh  day 
was  then  kept  as  the  Sabbath  ;  but  the  double  por- 
tion of  manna  on  the  sixth  day  of  its  appearance 
fixed  the  next  day  as  the  day  which  now  must  be 
strictly  observed  as  the  Sabbath.  This  relative  time, 
the  seventh  day,  instead  of  an  absolute  time  once 
for  all  determined  by  a  sharply  defined  yet  unnat- 
ural close  of  the  sixth  day  of  Creation,  saves  the 
day  from  a  superstitious  observance  as  to  time  ;  and 
preserves  it  in  its  original  integrity  and  virtue  as  a 
day  of  rest,  and  of  sacred  duties  to  be  done. 

By  misinterpretation  of  the  seventh  day,  as  a  cer- 


TIME  OF  REST.  215 

tain  absolute  time,  instead  of  a  seventh  part  of  time 
set  apart  for  peculiar  duties,  the  Sabbath  institution 
had  been  vitiated.  It  had  become  formal  rather 
than  useful  and  practical,  as  designed  originally,  and 
as  expressed  in  the  fourth  commandment  ;  for  as 
we  read,  "  The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man." 

68.  Time  of  Rest. —  TJie  time  of  rest,  as  deter- 
mined by  the  Creator,  is  one  day  in  seven  ;  and  this 
being  Divine  wisdom,  no  people  can  assum.e  to  make 
a  better  distribution  of  time,  as  to  employments  sec- 
ular and  sacred. 

In  the  day  of  the  French  revolution,  when  things 
sacred  were  trampled  upon,  the  tentJt  day  was  sub- 
stituted as  a  day  of  rest  instead  of  the  seventh  day  ; 
but  experience  soon  proved  that  a  tenth  part  of  time 
was  insufficient  for  the  end  desired.  Nor  is  the  time 
to  be  determined  by  each  individual  for  himself. 
The  law  of  the  Sabbath  is  a  law  given  to  the  people 
at  large,  to  the  nation — and  must  be  maintained  b\' 
the  people  as  a  civil  institution,  as  well  as  a  moral 
one. 

The  Sabbath  "  made  for  man  "  applies  not  only  to 
man  individually,  but  to  man  as  a  communit}-,  and 
hence  must  enter  into  the  civil  code. 

Government  natio)ial  and  nin>iieipal  is  under  obli- 
gation to  notice  the  Sabbath  —  not  only  by  obedience 
to  its  requirements,  but  by  such  laws  and  regulations 
as  will  secure  a  due  regard  on  the  part  of  the  people 
to  a  proper  respect  for  the  Sabbath  day. 

Among  a  comparatively  homogeneous  people 
there    need    be    no    difference  in  this  regard.     The 


216  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

rights  of  conscience  are  readily  respected  when  it  is 
understood  that  no  man  has  a  right  to  a  conscience 
that  will  without  compunction  invade  the  rights  of 
his  neighbor. 

The  essential  element  of  the  Sabbath  da}-  is  the 
one  day's  rest  after  six  days  of  labor. 

If  the  six  days  of  labor  be  determined  b}'  legisla- 
tion in  accord  with  the  known  will  of  the  people,  the 
one  day  of  rest  will  follow  in  accord  with  the  law  of 
nature  as  set  forth  in  the  Creation. 

Or  if  the  one  day  of  rest  be  determined  in  accord 
with  the  religious  views  of  the  people,  then  the  six 
days  of  work  will  naturally  follow. 

In  an  exceptional  case,  it  may  occur,  as  in  Algiers, 
that  there  is  a  marked  observance  of  more  than  one 
day  as  the  Sabbath  day. 

Thus  the  French  government  and  French  people 
in  Algeria  observe  Sunday  as  the  Sabbath  day. 

The  Jews  observe  Saturday,  and  the  Mahomedan 
Arabs  observe  Friday  as  the  Sabbath. 

Here,  properly,  the  conscience,  however  unenlight- 
ened, is  respected  ;  and  each  people  is  left  free  — 
perforce  and  under  restrictions  of  due  legislation  — 
to  observe  a  Sabbath  day,  according  to  its  o^\•n  views 
as  to  time. 

The  particular  application  of  the  universal  law  of 
rest  will  vary  with  varying  environments. 

As  to  the  Israelites,  they  were  a  chosen  people  set 
for  a  light  in  the  world,  to  maintain,  by  a  ready 
obedience  to  moral  law,  the  knowledge  and  the  wor- 
ship of  the  one  true  God  amid  the  darkness  of  the 
idolatrous  Gentile  nations. 


TRUE  OBSERVANCE.  217 

And  this  chosen  people  was  itself  a  stubborn, 
stiff-necked  race,  that  could  not  be  kept  within 
the  bounds  of  obedience  except  by  exact  and 
strict  laws  and  with  severe  penalties  for  violation 
thereof. 

Hence  special  Sabbath  laws  we  have — "  Six  days 
thou  shalt  work ;  but  on  the  seventh  day  thou  shalt 
rest ;  in  earing  time  and  in  harvest  time  thou  shalt 
rest,"  (Exodus  34:  21.)  "Six  days  shall  work  be 
done ;  but  on  the  seventh  day  there  shall  be  to  you 
an  holy  day,  a  Sabbath  of  rest  to  the  Lord.  Who- 
soever doeth  work  therein  shall  be  put  to  death." 
(Exodus  35:  2.)  "Ye  shall  kindle  no  fire  through- 
out your  habitations  on  the  Sabbath  day,"  (Exo- 
dus 35:  3.) 

69.  True  Observance. — But  after  that  a  habit 
of  obedience  and  of  Sabbath  observance  had  been  at- 
tained to,  through  exacting  laws,  the  next  step  in  the 
education  of  the  people  was  to  change  the  spirit  of 
this  obedience  from  its  compulsory  and  formal 
character  to  a  voluntary  and  a  joyful  obedience  aris- 
ing from  a  more  enlightened  view  of  the  require- 
ments of  the  Sabbath,  and  a  true  appreciation  of  the 
blessings  the  Sabbath  institution  is  capable  of  con- 
ferring upon  man,  when  the  moral  and  religious 
nature  of  man  has  become  so  enlarged  and  cultivated 
as  to  be  able  to  go  alone — to  dispense  with  the  lead- 
ing-strings of  positive  law  and  special  rules,  and  to 
enter  into,  receive,  sustain  and  enjoy  a  condition  of 
moral  freedom  in  the  interpretation  and  observance 
of  an  institution  like  the  Sabbath,  into  which  enter 


218         MORAL  AXD  RELIGIOUS  SCIEXCE. 

varied  considerations  of  physical,  intellectual,  moral 
and  religious  well  being. 

A  chief  object  in  the  mission  of  that  illustrious 
prophet  Isaiah  was  to  infuse  a  spiritual  element  into 
the  ceremonial,  formal  and  superstitious  character  of 
Jewish  worship.  Hence  his  sharp  rebuke  :  "To 
what  purpose  is  the  multitude  of  your  sacrifices  unto 
me  ?"  saith  the  Lord.  "  Bring  no  more  vain  oblations  ; 
incense  is  an  abomination  unto  me ;  the  new  moons 
and  Sabbaths,  the  calling  of  assemblies ;  even  the 
solemn  meeting." 

"  Wash  ye,  make  you  clean  ;  put  away  the  evil  of 
your  doings  from  before  mine  eyes;  cease  to  do  evil." 
(Isaiah   i  :  1 1.) 

To  this  end,  in  the  matter  of  Sabbath  observance, 
Isaiah  prophecies  thus : 

"  If  thou  turn  away  thy  foot  from  the  Sabbath, 
from  doing  thy  pleasure  on  my  holy  day ;  and  call 
the  Sabbath  a  delight,  the  holy  of  the  Lord,  honor- 
able ;  and  shalt  honor  him,  not  doing  thine  own 
ways,  nor  finding  thine  own  pleasure,  nor  speaking 
thine  own  words: 

"Then  shalt  thou  delight  thyself  in  the  Lord  ;  and 
I  will  cause  thee  to  ride  upon  the  high  places  of  the 
earth  and  feed  thee  with  the  heritage  of  Jacob  thy 
father;  for  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it." 
(Isaiah  58:  13,  14.) 

70.  The  True  Sahhatii. — Thus  the  true  Sabbatli, 
instead  of  being  a  time  for  lugubrious  meditation,  is 
an  occasion  of  delight  to  the  soul  of  man,  when  the 
soul  is  drawn  towards  proper  objects  of  love. 


THE   TRUE  SABBATH.  21M 

And  in  this  view  of  progression  towards  higher 
and  truer  views  of  moral  and  reUgious  duties,  a 
more  flexible  interpretation  to  the  Sabbath-day  law 
became  possible  in  the  times  and  under  the  ministry 
of  the  Lord  Jesus,  who  showed  that  A\orks  of  ne- 
cessity and  of  mercy  might  be  done  on  that  holy 
day. 

Thus  to  the  blind,  sight  was  given  ;  and  to  the 
sick  of  the  palsy  he  saith  :  "Arise,  take  up  thy  bed, 
and  go  unto  thy  house." 

The  former  rigidity  of  interpretation  as  to  Sab- 
bath-day work  was  under  a  reign  of  law,  which,  if  a 
man  do,  he  lives ;  if  not,  he  dies. 

The  later  elasticity  of  interpretation  was  under  a 
reign  of  law  indeed,  but  of  law  modified  by  the 
Spirit's  power,  which  places  man  in  a  higher  plane 
of  action ;  one  in  which  the  enlightened  conscience 
finds  an  element  of  freedom. 

We  must  not,  however,  for  a  moment  imagine  the 
abrogation  of  the  Sabbath  law;  Jesus  came  not  to 
annul  but  to  fulfill." 

The  law  exists,  and  the  element  of  elasticity  in- 
fused into  it  by  changed  conditions  must  not  be  con- 
strued into  one  of  unrestricted  license. 

Every  man  is  bound  to  observe  the  law  with  a 
very  conscientious  regard  to  its  duties  and  require- 
ments. 

There  are  many  scripture  passages  showing  obli- 
gation to  keep  the  Sabbath  day  holy.  "  Blessed  is 
the  man  that  keepcth  the  Sabbath  from  polluting  it." 
(Isaiah  56  :  2.) 

"  If  ye  diligently  hearken  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord, 


220         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

to  bring  in  no  burden  through  the  gates  of  this  city 
on  the  Sabbath  day  ;  then  shall  there  enter  into  the 
gates  of  this  city  kings  and  princes  sitting  upon  the 
throne  of  David.  But  if  ye  will  not  hearken  unto 
me  to  hallow  the  Sabbath  day,  and  not  to  bear  a 
burden,  even  entering  in  at  the  gates  of  Jerusalem 
on  the  Sabbath  day,  then  will  I  kindle  a  fire  in  the 
gates  thereof;  and  it  shall  devour  the  palaces  of 
Jerusalem,  and  it  shall  not  be  quenched."  (Jeremiah 
17 :  24-27.) 

These  solemn  warnings  are  entirely  applicable  to 
our  degenerate  day,  which  would  turn  over  the  in- 
stitution of  the  Sabbath  day  as  a  day  sacred  to  rest 
from  daily  toil,  and  sacred  to  heavenly  thought  and 
contemplation,  into  a  day  for  the  active  and  ener- 
getic pursuit  of  business,  or  of  amusement  and 
pleasure. 

God  rested  on  the  seventh  day.  The  Sabbath  is 
primarily  rest  from  toil.  This  rest  the  toiler  needs, 
whether  it  be  rest  from  bodily  or  from  mental  toil. 

The  labors  of  the  six  days  of  the  week  are 
lightened  and  mitigated  by  the  thought  that  one 
day  of  rest  is  near  at  hand.  How  blithely  the 
wearied  traveler  journeys  over  the  road  as  he  nears 
the  last  day,  the  last  hour,  the  last  milestone  that 
separates  from  home. 

The  growing  disregard  of  tlic  day  of  rest  by  our 
business  men  is  doubtless  in  large  part  the  reason 
why  so  many  of  them  break  down  and  die  before 
their  time. 

"  Business,  business — it  is  a  dreadful  thing !"  ex- 
claimed little  Miss  Winterbotham,  as  she    saw  her 


SA  BBA  Til-  DAT  IXS  TITU  TIONS.  11 1 

papa — always  "  on  the  go" — called  away  from  home 
at  an  unseasonable  hour.  And  so  it  is  a  dreadful 
thing  when  pursued  in  defiance  of  the  Sabbath  rest, 
and  of  all  the  warnings  and  threatenings  of  Holy 
Writ,  which  sooner  or  later  will  be  executed  to  the 
extent  and  fullness  of  their  language  and  meaning. 

But  not  solely  a  day  of  rest,  for  it  is  "  the  Sabbath 
of  the  Lord  thy  God,"  and  hence  has  some  special 
relation  to  him.  The  Lord  blessed  the  Sabbath  day 
and  Jialloivcd  it. 

This  means  that  while  it  is  a  day  of  rest,  it  is  also 
a  day,  a  suitable  time  for  spiritual  exercises ;  for 
thoughts  about  God,  communion  with  him,  prayer 
and  praise;  and  every  man,  and  all  people  are  more 
profited  by  the  right  use  than  by  the  abuse  of  the 
Sabbath. 

71.  Summary  as  to  Sabbath-day  Institu- 
tions.— On  a  general  survey  and  review  of  the 
Sabbath-day  institutions,  the  conclusion  must  be 
that  there  is  one  Sabbath — the  seventh  day  set  apart 
at  the  Creation  by  constitutional  law  as  a  day  of 
rest  sanctified  to  holy  use ;  that  the  fourth  com- 
mandment is  a  reminder  of  what  ought  and  what 
ought  not  to  be  done,  and  goes  to  show  that  the 
proper  observance  of  the  Sabbath  had  fallen  into 
neglect. 

Hence  the  positive  and  particular  requirements 
and  the  severe  penalties  for  violation,  all  necessary 
to  drill  Israel,  the  chosen  people,  into  a  habit  of 
obedience.  True,  obedience  from  higher  motives 
from  a  pure  desire  to  do  right  is  the  kind  of  obedi- 


222  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

ence  to  be  aimed  at,  but  it  is  often  necessary  to  put 
perverse  humanity  through  a  course  of  rough  dis- 
ciphne  to  educate  up  to  this  high  plane  of  duty. 

As  to  iijHC,  the  important  point  is  that  it  be  one 
day  in  seven  ;  the  seventh  after  six  days  of  ordinary 
work. 

There  is  no  evidence  that  the  manna  began  to 
fall  on  the  first  day  of  a  prior  series  of  work-days. 
Doubtless  the  original  Sabbath  day  had  been  lost 
sight  of,  and  the  Creator  made  use  of  this  necessary 
interposition  to  save  the  people  from  famine,  to 
again  institute  a  series  of  days,  and  to  mark  the  Sab- 
bath day  by  a  double  supply  of  food  on  the  sixth 
day,  and  by  withholding  any  supply  on  the  seventh. 

This  visible  and  miraculous  supply  for  six  days, 
and  the  omission  of  it  on  the  seventh,  incidentally 
introduced  again,  and  emphasized  and  enforced  the 
Sabbath-day  institution.  So,  too,  the  immediate 
disciples  of  Jesus,  confirmed  and  established  in  their 
faith  by  his  resurrection  from  the  grave  on  the  first 
day  of  the  week,  and  by  the  outpouring  of  the 
Spirit  and  .the  gift  of  tongues  also  on  the  first  day, 
naturally  regarded  the  first  day  as  the  day  to  be  ob- 
served as  hoi}',  sacred  to  religious  uses,  and  so  they 
had  their  assemblies  for  worship  on  the  first  day  in- 
stead of  the  seventh ;  and  thus  they  instituted  a 
new  week-series. 

The  completed  six  days'  work  of  creation  marked 
the  income  of  the  sabbatical  era;  so  the  double 
portion  of  manna  on  the  sixth  day  marked  the  same 
thing. 

So,  too,  the  redemptive  work  of  the  Lord  Jesus — 


SA  BBA  TH-  DA  1 '  /XS  TI T  U  TIOXS.  223 

his  advent  on  a  mission  of  love  and  mercy,  liis  in- 
structions, his  good  deeds,  his  temptations  cast  aside, 
his  cross  and  passion,  his  descent  into  the  grave, 
were  all  proved,  rounded  and  completed  by  his  res- 
urrection and  the  presence  of  the  Spirit  as  the  in- 
come of  a  more  glorious  Sabbath ;  warranting,  we 
may  say,  the  disciples  in  marking  the  day  on  which 
these  great  events  took  place  as  a  new  sabbatical 
era — the  old  having  served  its  purpose.  Yet  man's 
wisdom  has  no  suf^cient  warrant  for  this  change,  ex- 
cept on  the  ground  of  a  Divine  oversight  and  provi- 
dential care  in  the  Father  of  all  as  to  the  institutions 
of  his  children. 

Without  presuming  to  scan  Divine  reasons  for 
these  changes,  it  doubtless  is  a  fact  of  human  nature, 
as  illustrated  in  the  Jew,  that  the  continued  observ- 
ance of  one  unvaried  day  tends  to  superstition  and 
to  a  formal  obedience  as  to  a  certain  time,  rather  than 
to  a  true  holy  keeping  of  it — just  as  when  the  place 
of  worship  is  magnified  to  the  damage  and  loss  of  a 
true  worship;  as  Jesus  taught  thus:  "The  hour 
Cometh  when  ye  shall  neither  in  this  mountain,  nor 
yet  at  Jerusalem,  worship  the  Father.  God  is  a 
Spirit ;  and  they  that  worship  him  must  worship  him 
in  spirit  and  in  truth."     (John  4:  21-24.) 

So  in  like  manner,  a  spiritiral  observance  of  the 
Sabbath  is  promoted  and  attained  to  when  the 
thoughts  are  drawn  away  from  an  absolute  time  to 
a  sabbatical  commemoration  of  eventful  eras — 
namely,  to  the  Creation,  to  the  providential  care  of 
the  Father  over  his  chosen  people,  and  to  the  re- 
demption and  spirit-regeneration  of  man. 


224         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

72.  Legislation  Sabbatical. — Much  might  be 
said  on  what  legislation  is  necessary  to  discourage 
Sabbath-day  breaking,  now  so  common  by  institu- 
tions and  organizations  for  catering  to  the  lovers  of 
pleasure,  by  business  men  in  the  prosecution  of  large 
industries,  by  railroad  corporations,  and  by  the 
government  itself  in  its  postal  and  other  service. 
Doubtless  there  is  a  temperate  conservative  con- 
struction to  be  put  on  these  matters,  and  others 
akin  to  them,  which  will  be  perceived  and  en- 
forced when  the  people  are  so  educated  as  to 
have  a  right  knowledge  and  appreciation  of  the  Sab- 
bath day. 

An  editorial  in  "  Christian  Union,"  May  9th,  1889, 
indicates  a  growing  sentiment  of  regard  for  the 
Sabbath : 

■■  The  New  York  Central  Railroad,  which  had  already  reduced 
its  traffic  on  Sunday  to  a  minimum,  has  now,  by  order  which 
went  into  effect  on  the  first  of  May,  reduced  its  freight  traffic  on 
Sunday  about  fifty  per  cent.  The  difficulties  in  the  way  of  this 
movement,  and  the  methods  by  which  they  are  met.  we  have 
already  indicated  to  our  readers. 

"  It  is  now  announced  that  the  Erie  Railroad  and  the  Dela- 
ware &  Hudson  Canal  Company  have  adopted  the  same  policy, 
and  will  reduce  to  the  ininimum  the  running  of  all  trains  and 
railroad  work  on  Sunday.  General  Diven  showed  in  our  col- 
umns last  winter  that  such^  reduction  of  railroad  traffic  is  prac- 
ticable, and  these  roads  by  their  action  are  demonstrating  that 
to  this  problem,  as  to  the  others,  the  aphorism  'Where  there's  a 
will  there's  a  way'  applies.  It  is  said  that  the  workingmen  on 
the  roads  are  generally  glad  to  get  the  rest  day,  although  it 
necessarily  involves  some  diminution  in  wages. 

"The  thanks  of  the  religious  community  are  especially  due  to 
Mr.  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  whose  persistent  urgency  in  this  mat- 
ter has  at  length  borne  fruit." 


thoughts  b7'  bishop  \\  hat  ely.      225 

73.  Thoughts  on  the  Sabbath  by  I^ishoi- 
Whatelv. — Bishop  Whately  entirely  misconstrues 
the  scope  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  and  misleads  us 
when  he  would  make  it  a  mere  positive  law,  and 
thus  abstract  it  from  the  decalogue. '  It  is  no  posi- 
tive law,  the  seventh  day  for  rest.  It  is  a  law  of  the 
physical  nature,  and  for  religious  thought  and  the 
exercise  of  the  religious  feelings.  It  is  a  law  of  the 
soul.  After  six  days  of  toil,  bodily  rest  naturally 
comes  first ;  it  must  first  be  had,  else  the  soul  is  in 
no  fit  condition  for  spiritual  exercise. 

The  bishop  lays  stress  on  the  "  power  of  the 
church"  and  its  "sanction  "of  the  first  day  of  the 
week  as  the  Sabbath,  but  from  scripture  it  does  not 
appear  that  any  power  of  the  church  was  used,  but 
that  on  the  evening  of  the  day  of  the  resurrection 
the  disciples,  in  view  of  this  momentous  event, 
naturally  assembled  together,  and  that  Jesus  ap- 
peared in  their  midst,  thus  sanctioning  their  act  of 
assembling;  also  that  on  the  next  first  day  of  the 
week  a  similar  meeting  took  place. 

Very  pertinent  and  judicious  is  the  note  of  Albert 
Barnes  on  John  20  :  26: 

"  FVom  this  it  appears  that  they  thus  early  set  apart  this  day 
for  assembUng  together,  and  Jesus  countenanced  it  by  appearing 
twice  with  them.  It  was  natural  that  the  apostles  should  ob- 
serve this  day,  but  not  probable  that  they  would  do  it  without 
the  sanction  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  His  repeated  presence  gave 
such  a  sanction,  and  the  historical  fact  is  indisputable  that  from 
this  time  this  day  was  observed  as  the  Christian  Sabbath. 

Hence  it  further  appears  that  the  first-day  Sab- 
bath, in  lieu  of   the  Jewish  seventh-day,  far    from 

15 


226  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

being  instituted  by  the  "  power  of  the  churcli,"  in- 
stituted itself  spontaneously,  under  the  guidance  of 
the  providential  hand,  and  with  the  sanction  of  the 
Great  Head  of  the  Church  —  in  virtue  of  a  natural 
logic  of  a  course  of  supernatural  events  of  the  high- 
est interest  to  man. 

74.  Marriage. — 

"  Tell  me,  on  what  holy  ground 
May  Domestic  Peace  be  found  .'' 
Halcyon  daughter  of  the  skies. 
Far  on  fearful  wing  she  flies, 
From  the  pomp  of  sceptred  state. 
From  the  rebel's  noisy  hate  ; 
In  a  cottaged  vale  she  dwells, 
Listening  to  the  Sabbath  bells! 
Still  around  her  steps  are  seen 
Spotless  Honor's  meeker  mien, 
Love,  the  sire  ot  pleasing  fears, 
Sorrow  smiling  through  her  tears. 
And,  conscious  of  the  past  emplo}'. 
Memory,  bosom-spring  of  jov!" 

—  Colrridirc. 

The  authority  for  the  marriage  institution  is  "  male 
and  female  created  he  them,"  and  God  blessed  them 
and  God  said  unto  them,  "Be  fruitful  and  multiply 
and  replenish  the  earth."     (Genesis  i  :  27,  28.) 

And  the  sacredness  of  marriage  is  enforced  by 
"What  therefore  God  hath  joined  together,  let  no 
man  put  asunder."     (Matthew  19:  6.) 

And  the  holy  lo\'e  that  should  exist  in  wedlock- 
is  set  forth  tluis  :  "  Husbands,  love  )'our  wives,  even 
as  Christ  also  loved  the  church,  and  gave  himself  for 
it:    that    it  should    be  holy  and    without  blemish." 


MAURI  A<,E.  227 


"So  ought  men  to  love  their  wives  as  their  own 
bodies.  He  that  loveth  his  wife  loveth  himself;  for 
no  man  ever  yet  hated  his  own  flesh."  (Ephesians 
5  •  -5?  Zli^  Marriage  is  honorable  in  all.  (Hebrews 
13:4.)  "And  both  Jesus  was  called,  and  his  disci- 
ples, to  the  marriage."     (John  2 :  2.) 

The  Conjugal  Law:  The  general  equality  in 
numbers  between  males  and  females  proves  that  the 
Creator  designed  one  man  for  one  woman  ;  and  that 
the  union  of  the  two  must  be  sacred  and  inviolable  is 
evidenced  from  the  degradation  and  miseries,  physical 
and  moral,  that  are  sure  to  accompany  its  violation. 
Hence  the  many  scripture  precepts  in  favor  of  mar- 
riage as  the  natural,  lawful  and  honorable  condition 
of  life  ;  and  against  all  acts  that  are  destructive  of  its 
beauty  and  utility  and  necessity  in  the  continuance, 
preservation,  cultivation  and  happiness  of  the  human 
race.  Among  the  blessings  of  marriage  arc  indi- 
vidual happiness,  numerous  and  well  cared  for  chil- 
dren, peace  in  society,  and  good  government  from 
the  increased  interest  of  citizens  under  family  rela- 
tion, in  the  well-being  of  the  state. 

Hence  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  conjugal 
law,  it  follows  that  the  marriage  relation  must  be 
life-long  in  duration. 

This  Jesus  taught :  "  The  Pharisees  also  came  unto 
him,  tempting  him,  and  saying  unto  him,  Is  it  lawful 
for  a  man  to  put  away  his   wife   for  every   cause? 

"And  he  answered  antl  said  unto  them.  Have  }-e 
not  read  that  he  which  made  them  at  the  beginning, 
made  them  male  and  female,  and  said,  I'or  this 
cause  shall  a  nian  leave  father  and  mother  and  shall 


228         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 


cleave  to  his  wife,  and  they  twain  shall  be  one 
flesh. 

"Wherefore  they  are  no  more  twain,  but  one  flesh. 
What  therefore  God  hath  joined  together,  let  not 
man  put  asunder."     (Matthew  19:  3,  6.) 

Permanent  and  e.xclusive  union  is,  then,  an  essen- 
tial characteristic  of  marriage. 

75.  Requirements  for  the  Marriage  Rela- 
tion.— ( i)  Compatibility  of  temper  is  generally  held  to 
be  essential  to  a  happy  married  life.  This  word  and 
qualification  is,  however,  misleading,  if  construed  as 
a  similarity  of  temper,  and  it  is  not  wise  to  put  un- 
necessary obstacles  in  the  way  of  marriage.  A  coni- 
plcnicnt  in  temper  is  of  higher  value  and  more  likely 
to  exist.  It  is  rare  that  there  is  a  marked  degree  of 
compatibility  in  the  temper  of  the  spouses,  and  un- 
less the  temper  of  each  is  mild,  compatibility  is  not 
desirable. 

Two  persons  of  high  temjjer  cannot  so  well  live 
together  as  two  of  a  complementary  temper  —  the 
one  quick,  the  other  calm.  The  mild-tempered 
spouse  will  not  fret  on  account  of  a  hasty  ebullition 
in  the  quick-tempered  spouse  ;  for  valuable  qualities 
oft  are  conjoined  with  a  temper  quick  by  nature  as 
well  as  with  a  calm  one,  and  the  opposite  characteristics 
will  gradually  become  assimilated,  and  each  be  im- 
proved thereby. 

Herein  we  find  meaning  to  the  scripture  idea  of 
unity,  of  oneness  in  the  e.pousals,  whereby  t7(.>o  be- 
come one  flesh  ;  the  most  obvious  in  man,  the  cor- 
poreal, by  synecdoche,  being  taken  to  represent  the 


REQUIREMENTS  FOR  MARRIAGE.  229 

whole  man,  the  body  and  the  soul.  This  is  one  of 
the  many  instances  in  which  appears  the  scientific 
idea  in  the  deeper  philosophy  of  jesus  ;  and  on  this 
is  founded  the  prevailing  ii'gdl  status  of  unity,  in 
the  espoused  pair. 

(2)  Mutual  affection  and  love  is  the  great  require- 
ment, is  the  ruling  element,  in  the  marriage  tie  that 
brin<js  and  holds  together  man  and  wife ;  and  each 
of  the  two  souls  thus  united  is  bound  to  cherish  this 
ruling  element,  love.  This  can  be  effected  only  by 
each  valuing  the  happiness  of  the  other  more  than 
his  own — for  this  is  of  the  very  nature  and  essence  of 
true  love,  so  far  at  least  as  our  limited  understanding 
is  able  to  cognize  and  to  comprehend  this  subtle, 
deep-seated,  all-pervading,  all-powerful  principle  in 
human  nature — love — with  its  peculiar  electric-like 
characteristic  in  conjugal  love. 

This  view  is  finely  presented  in  The  Spectator,  No. 
490. 

"Marriage  is  an  institution  calculated  for  a  con- 
stant scene  of  delight,  as  much  as  our  being  is  capa- 
ble of.  Two  persons  who  have  chosen  each  other 
out  of  all  the  species,  with  design  to  be  each  other's 
mutual  comfort  and  entertainment,  have  in  that  ac- 
tion bound  themselves  to  be  good  humored,  affable, 
discreet,  forgiving,  patient  and  joyful,  with  respect 
to  each  other's  frailties  and  perfections,  to  the  end 
of  their  lives. 

"  The  wiser  of  the  two  (and  it  always  happens  one 
of  them  Is  such)  will,  for  her  or  his  own  sake,  keep 
things  from  outrage  with  the  utmost  sanctity. 
When   this   union  is  thus  preserved,  the  most  indif- 


230         MORAL  AXD  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

ferent  circumstance  administers  delight  ;  their  condi- 
tion is  an  endless  source  of  new  gratifications.  The 
married  man  can  say,  "  If  I  am  unacceptable  to  all 
the  world  beside,  there  is  one  whom  I  entirely  love, 
that  will  receive  me  with  joy  and  transport,  and 
think  herself  obliged  to  double  her  kindness  and 
caresses  of  me  from  the  gloom  with  which  she  sees 
me  overcast. 

This  passion  towards  each  other,  when  once  well 
fixed,  enters  into  the  very  constitution,  and  the  kind- 
ness flows  as  easily  and  silently  as  the  blood  in 
the  veins.  When  this  affection  is  enjoyed  in 
the  sublime  degree,  unskillful  eyes  see  nothing  of 
it ;  but  when  it  is  subject  to  be  changed,  and  has  an 
alloy  in  it  that  may  make  it  end  in  distaste,  it  is  apt 
to  break  into  rage,  or  overflow  into  fondness  before 
the  rest  of  the  world." 

Should  it  at  any  time  appear  that  the  two  made 
one,  are  not  one  at  heart,  it  is  their  duty  to  be- 
come so,  to  cultivate  and  cherish  mutual  love  by  a 
reciprocity  of  kind  offices  engaged  in  with  courage 
and  cheerfulness.  A  happy  outcome  can  hardly 
fail  to  follow. 

(3)  Congeniality  in  sentiments  and  taste  is  an  im- 
portant requirement — to  secure  which  there  needs 
be  some  degree  of  equality  in  education,  social  rela- 
tions, religious  sentiment,  and  in  age;  an  old  man's 
tastes  do  not  well  consort  with  those  of  a  young  wife. 

(4)  Capability  for  the  Common  Duties  of  Life. — It 
is  the  duty  of  the  husband  to  provide  as  generously 
as  circumstances  allow  for  the  support  and  comfort 
of   the  household,  by  manual  or  professional  toil,  or 


PRERE.'^rrSITE  ^QUALIFICATIONS.         231 


else  by  the  care  of  his  estate  ;  and  it  is  the  duty  of 
the  wife  to  guide  the  house,  and  to  make  a  judicious 
and  economical  use  of  what  is  provided. 

(5j  Authority :  There  are  times  for  leadership 
and  dccisi\-e  action.  The  superior  physical  strength 
of  the  man,  and  his  wider  experience  in  difficult 
affairs,  naturally  give  him  now  the  superiorit}'  which 
the  gentler  consort  gladly  yields  ;  yet  her  quicker 
wits  do  often  well  advise. 

The  voice  of  the  man  should  be  gentle  and  per- 
suasive, yet,  if  need  be,  firm  and  judicious. 

The  voice  of  the  wife — gentle  and  persuasive,  yet, 
if  need  be,  yielding,  for  open  revolt  is  contra  to  her 
nature,  and  weakens  her  influence  and  self-respect. 

'•  For  lo\'e  is  made  of  everv  fine  emotion, 
Of  generous  impulses,  and  noble  thoughts." 

jG.  Prerequisite  Qualifications— The  pre- 
requisites, then,  for  a  happy  married  life  may  be 
gathered  from  a  consideration  of  the  elements,  duties 
and  obligations  named. 

{\)  A  Pure  Walk  and  Conversation  Before  Marriage: 
This  in  the  gentler  sex  is  a  sine  qua  nan,  though 
even  here  there  may  be  instances  of  reformation  and 
restoration.  These  are  very  exceptional,  and  native 
virtue  in  a  woman  must  be  regarded  as  an  essential 
moral  element  to  her  entrance  into  married  life. 

And  for  this  very  reason,  if  for  no  other,  purit}-, 
\'irtue  in  the  young  man  is  an  essential  element ;  for 
when  he  permits  unchecked  desire  to  mislead  him 
into  seductive  arts,  he  makes  of  himself  a  fool,  as 
well  as  a  criminal  of  very  low  grade  ;  for  nothing  can 


'2:i-2  MORAL  AND  RELTGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

be  more  criminal  than  to  assail  that  virtue  which  is 
not  only  the  highest  ornament  of  womanhood,  but 
which  is  of  much  greater  value  to  her  than  is  life  itself. 

Such  a  young  man  is  not  fit  for  the  true  conjugal 
life  ;  and  never  could  find  and  possess  the  real  joy 
and  happiness  that  is  peculiar' to  it.  He  will  always 
feel  cheap,  and  feel,  too,  the  sting  of  conscience  for 
his  past  misdeeds — if  indeed  such  an  one  have  a  con- 
science—and if  not,  he  should  have  no  wife. 

The  restraint  here  indicated  is  authoritatively  en- 
forced in  scripture.  "Flee  also  youthful  lusts." 
(II  Timothy  2  :  22.) 

"For  this  is  the  will  of  God,  even  your  sanctifica- 

tion.     .     .     .     That   every  one  of  you  should  know 

how  to  possess  his  vessel  in  sanctification  and  honor 

For  God  hath  not  called  us   unto  unclean- 

ness,  but  unto  holiness."     (I  Thessalonians  4  :  3-7.) 

(2)  An  Education  and  bringing  up  such  as  shall 
fit  young  people  for  overcoming  adversities  in  life, 
as  well  as  for  the  temperate  and  proper  enjoyment 
of  favoring  circumstances. 

The  young  man  should  know  how  to  do  something 
so  well  that  he  can  make  a  respectable  living  at  it,  and 
must  have  a  willing  mind  to  do  it,  if  there  be  need. 

The  bride,  even  though  brought  up  in  the  luxuries 
of  wealth,  should  }ct  love  industry,  and  should  be 
skilled  in  the  art  and  practice  of  economy  in  the  use 
of  time,  in  dress,  and  in  culinary  and  other  house- 
hold affairs. 

"  For  riches  oft  lake  to  thfiiist-lves  willies." 

(3)  Knoivledgcof  Require n lent s:     i.   In  view  of  the 


DIVORCE.  2;« 

requirements  in  the  marriage  state,  an  obvious  pre- 
requisite is  that  the  negotiating  parties  should  have  a 
reasonably  clear  understanding  of  what  will  be  their 
duties  and  rights  after  marriage. 

2.  How  far  there  is  bn  each  side  a  good-will  and 
capability  to  meet  duties.  To  this  end  there  must 
be  entire  mutual  confidence  and  sincerity  in  a  review 
of  their  own  qualifications  and  disqualifications;  no 
concealment  from  each  other  of  faults  and  differences 
in  traits  of  character  and  in  sentiments. 

3.  It  should  be  considered  and  discussed  as  to 
how  far  these  faults  and  differences  are  obstacles, 
and  as  to  how  easy  or  difficult  it  will  be  to  overcome 
them. 

4.  It  must,  too,  be  taken  into  account  that  "love 
is  blind,"  especially  that  when  in  the  pursuit  of 
its  object,  to  its  enthusiasm,  all  things  seem  pos- 
sible. 

5.  Hence,  if  an  understanding  is  arrived  at,  it  is 
well  to  have  a  written  memorandum  thereof,  so  that 
in  case  of  a  "family  jar,"  it  can  be  determined 
wherein  is  the  departure,  and  thus  correct  data 
be  readily  obtained  for  the  remedy  and  a  new  start. 

T"].  Divorce.— To  the  inquiry  why  Moses  allowed 
the  w'xic  to  be  put  away  with  a  writing  of  divorce- 
ment, Jesus  replies: 

"Moses,  because  of  the  hardness  of  your  hearts, 
suffered  you  to  put  away  your  wives  ;  but  from  the 
beginning  it  was  not  so.  And  I  say  unto  you.  Who- 
soever shall  put  away  his  wife  except  it  be  for  fornica- 
tion, and  shall  marry  another,  committeth  adultery; 


2U         MORAL  AXD  RELH.IOUS  SCIEXCE. 

and  whoso  marricth  her  wliich  is  put  away,  doth 
commit  adulter)-.     (Matthew  19:  8,  9.) 

It  is  with  reference  to  the  true  ideal  sense  of  re- 
straint, that  of  wanton  thoughts,  that  these  scrip- 
ture precepts  are  given.  "  Husbands,  love  your 
wives ;""  the  \\ife  see  that  she  reverence  her  hus- 
band;' and  others  of  like  import.  When  these  con- 
ditions of  the  marriage  relation,  if  ever  they  existed, 
have  been  lost  sight  of  and  have  departed,  and  when 
ill-treatment  and  abuse  becom.e  frequent,  or  deser- 
tion follows,  there  is  evidence  of  adulter)-  in  the  af- 
fections and  thoughts  of  the  soul,  and  a  wise  and 
discriminating  judge  ma)-  find  sufficient  grounds  for 
separation  and  the  separate  maintenance  of  the 
woman  and  her  children,  though  not  for  an  absolute 
divorce. 

The  limitation  of  rights  in  case  of  separation,  the 
impossibility  of  contracting  another  matrimonial  al- 
liance without  loss  of  social  standing  and  liability  to 
law,  are  wholesome  restraints  tending  to  inculcate  the 
duty  of  suffering  rather  than  break  the  marriage  tie 
tending  to  aid  in  preserving  a  constitution  of  human 
nature  so  essential  to  civilization  and  the  well-being 
of  mankind. 

Jesus  enunciates  the  principle  on  whicli  divorce  is 
allowable,  and  leaves  it  to  the  logic  of  m.mV  under- 
standing to  make  laws  and  rulings  which—if  not  at- 
taining to  the  perfect  ideal — shall  at  least  gra\itate 
towards  and  constantly  approach  it. 

78.  The  Theocracy. — The  entire  Jewish  nation- 
ality was  a  theocratic  institution  now  historical,  yet 


THE   THEOCRACr.  235 

it  will  always  speak  and  testify  to  men.  Its  one 
grand  purpose  was  to  make  known  to  all  the  people 
of  the  earth  the  One  True  God  ;  and  to  foreshadow 
and  symboliz.e  the  more  spiritual  kingdom  of  the 
promised  Messiah,  by  the  calling  of  Abraham  out  of 
Chaldea,  by  the  preserv^ation  and  aggrandizement  of 
Joseph,  and  of  Moses  taught  "in  all  the  wisdom  of 
the  Egyptians,"  schooled  into  meekness  by  forty 
years  of  exile,  the  Lord  then  appearing  to  him  to 
commission  him  as  the  leader  and  deliverer  of  his 
people  from  four  hundred  years  of  Egyptian  bond- 
age, by  the  sublime  revelations  of  moral  law  and  re- 
ligious duty  at  Mount  Sinai,  b}-  the  forty  years'  dis- 
cipline of  a  rebellious  people  in  their  wanderings 
through  the  wilderness,  by  triumphs  and  defeats 
in  entering  into  the  Promised  Land,  and  b)-  the  felt 
presence  of  Jehovah  in  the  holy  tabernacle  and  in 
the  ark  of  the  covenant,  supplemented  by  the  min- 
istry of  the  prophets  illustrious  in  their  impassioned 
appeals,  dire  predictions  of  calamities  impending 
over  the  disobedient,  with  promises  of  prosperity 
and  joy  due  to  obedience  to  the  Divine  will,  the 
entire  and  willing  acceptance  of  the  monotheistic 
idea  not  being  drilled  into  the  cognition  and  the  affec- 
tions of  this  chosen  people,  till  their  sins  were  brought 
home  to  the  entire  consciousness  b\'  the  dreadful 
experiences  of  the  seventy  years  of  Babylonish  cap- 
ti\ity,  when  they  took  up  the  plaint, 

"By  tho  rivers  of  Babylon,  there  we  sat  down, 
Yea,  we  wept  \\  lien  we  remembered  Zion; 
We  hanj^ed  our  harps  upon  the  willows  in  the  midst  thereof. 
For  how  shall  we  sniii  Hie  Lonl's  soni/  in  a  stranj^e  landl" 


236         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

From  that  time  on,  the  Jews  have  been  a  faithful 
witness  to  the  One  God,  and  through  the  logic  of 
their  prophetic  utterances  verified  by  history  they 
yet  testify  to  extra-grace  and  spirit-power  under  the 
Messianic  economy,  over  and  above  that  justice  and 
mercy  revealed  in  the  tables  of  the  Sinai  law. 

79.  The  State,  Institutional. —  Its  origin, 
idea,  objects  : 

Its  Origin  :  Men  and  most  animals  are  of  a  social 
nature.  With  the  brute  creation,  it  is  a  matter  of 
instinct.  They  herd  or  flock  together  or  go  in  pairs, 
for  sake  not  only  of  companionship,  but  from  in- 
stinctive feeling  that  safety  lies  in  it. 

Men  consort  in  the  family  relation,  and  the  social 
institutions  growing  out  of  it,  because  man  was 
created  not  in  isolation,  but  in  and  for  society  ;  and 
men  associate  in  tribal  and  national  relations  for 
sake  of  the  accruing  benefits,  in  maintaining  peace 
and  quiet  and  good  order — a  prosperity  of  affairs — 
and  for  a  ready  means  of  defense  against  internal 
discord  and  foreign  foes.  Hence  outside  of  family 
government  there  is  developed  a  patriarchal  govern- 
ment ;  and  beyond  this  circle  are  the  wider  ones  of 
provincial  and  state  governments,  each  having  its 
own  sphere  of  duty — the  several  parts  being  com- 
prised in  one  whole,  as  a  necessary  idea  of  govern- 
mental relation. 

Its  Idea  :  The  idea  of  a  state  as  a  whole  includes 
the  idea  of  all  the  institutions  and  laws  that  nat- 
urally and  necessarily  belong  to  the  constitution, 
written  or  unwritten,  of  an  ideal  state. 


THE  STATE,  INSTITUTIONAL.  237 

The  existing  state  constitution  can  be  regarded  as 
an  approximation — and  always  only  as  an  approxi- 
mation— more  or  less  close  to  the  ideal  which  we 
should  aim  at. 

Thus,  for  instance,  if  we  assume  as  an  ideal  that 
all  the  employments  or  business  interests  of  all 
citizens  should  be  equally  and  fairly  represented  by 
each  and  all  of  the  legislative  delegates  ;  and  if  wc 
then  look  at  the  facts,  we  see  that  in  England,  for 
instance,  the  House  ot  Lords  is  supposed  to  repre- 
sent more  particularly  and  specially  the  interests  of 
the  owners  of  the  soil — that  is — their  own  interests  ; 
while  the  House  of  Commons  represents  the  manu- 
facturing and  trading  pursuits. 

Whereas,  by  our  assumed  ideal,  there  ought  to  be 
a  largeness  of  view  and  a  moral  element  wherein 
each  legislator  or  delegate  should  equally  regard  all 
interests;  but  owing  to  the  prejudices  and  imperfec- 
tion of  human  nature,  wc  must  be  content  with  the 
best  results  attainable — only  not  neglecting  to  culti- 
vate those  better  qualities  that  tend  to  the  better 
wa}'. 

Its  Objects:  (0  To  afford  protection  to  each  and 
every  individual  in  accord  with  his  natural  rights  and 
acquired  rights. 

(2)  Reciprocally,  on  the  ground  of  said  protection, 
to  rec|uire  of  each  citizen  such  service  as  may  be 
necessary  to  secure  the  welfare  of  the  state  by  an 
efficient  administration  of  its  affairs  in  peace  and  in 
war;  also  strict  honest)-  in  all  liis  dealings  with  the 
state. 

(3)  To  bestow  on  its  citizens  such  education,  cul- 


23S         MORAL  AND  RELrCilOUS  SCIENCE. 

turc  and  franchise  as  shall  qualify  them  to  act  the 
part  an3  perform  the  duties  of  good,  patriotic  and 
useful  citizens,  in  upholding  and  perfecting  the  laws, 
institutions  and  government. 

80.  The  Church  as  an  Institution. — In  the 
United  States  the  church  is  not  an  institution  that 
has  any  legal  authority  in  civil  affairs.  As  to  this 
Daniel  Webster  thus  expounds :  "The  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  forbids  to  unite  any  church 
with  the  state,  and  so  create  an  establishment  of 
religion ;  yet  this  does  not  argue  that  we  have  no  re- 
ligion ;  for  religion  is  presupposed  and  recognized 
by  all  our  institutions  and  by  every  legal  instru- 
ment." 

In  most  civilized  and  christianized  countries,  there 
is  a  so-called  union  of  Church  and  State. 

This  does  not  mean  that  there  is  a  union  of  the 
Christian  religion  and  of  civil  law  in  the  determina- 
tion and  administration  of  public  affairs ;  for  this 
would  be  contra  to  the  idea  and  the  ground-principle 
of  religion  as  spiritual,  and  hence  isui  generis)  as  dis- 
tinct from  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  ;  and  so  in  this 
view  a  union  of  Church  and  State  is  impracticable — 
even  necessarily  impossible.  But  it  means  that  the 
church,  organized  as  an  institution  to  represent  and 
propagate  religion,  is  surreptitiously,  illogically  and 
unnaturally  made  use  of  by  the  people,  the  state  or 
the  sovereignty  to  assist  in  the  construction  and 
maintenance  of  governnunt. 

Some  advantages  for  the  time  being  may  have  re- 
sulted from    such   a   union.     The  chief    is  that  the 


THE  (  //rh'(  //  j.s  A\  /.\s  //Ji  Jiox.      -i-.v.) 

IcartiiiiL;  for  which  the  clergy  arc  noted  is  apph'ed 
by  state  authority  and  support  directly  to  the  edu- 
cation of  the  people  in  morals  and  religion,  as  well 
as  to  legislation  and  the  administration  of  public 
affairs. 

Prior  to  the  art  of  printing,  and  in  the  years  of  its 
infancy,  books  were  scarce  and  too  costly  for  com- 
mon people,  and  learning  was  limited  for  most  part 
to  church  functionaries,  and  naturally  the  duty  of 
instruction  was  allotted  to  the  clerical  orders  in  the 
church  ;  hence  the  clergy,  representing  the  culture 
of  the  people,  and  performing  the  important  duties 
of  instructing  them  in  morals  and  religion,  and  in 
other  branches  of  education  so  far  as  in  use,  came  to 
be  regarded  as  a  constituent  of  the  state — as  the 
leading  estate  of  a  kingdom — the  other  important 
estates  being  represented  by  the  landowners  and  by 
the  mercantile  and  manufacturing  industries  of  the 
realm.  Hence  that  union  of  interests  and  powers 
called  church  and  state,  which  was  not  primarily  a 
union  of  the  spiritual  and  the  temporal ;  but  the 
clergy,  whose  office  and  duties  pertained  to  spiritu- 
alities, necessarily  gave  much  of  their  time  to  in- 
struction in  those  branches  of  education  needed  by 
the  people  to  insure  the  well-being  of  the  kingdom 
in  temporal  things. 

Hence  the  clergy  began  to  claim  rights  and  pow- 
ers that  do  not  belong  to  them,  for  in  reality  there 
can  be  no  union  of  church  and  state,  in  and  accord- 
ing to  the  true  idea  of  each— the  church  {i-ccli'sia) 
being  an  assembly  of  persons  called  out  from  the 
world  to  contemplate,  and  as  a  church  to  occupy 


■MO       MORAL  AND  relhhous  science. 

themselves    Jibout,   questions  purely  moral   and    re- 
ligious. 

Theoretically  there  can  be  no  contradiction  be- 
tween the  service  of  the  church  and  of  the  state, 
and  in  practice  there  need  not  be,  and  should  not  be. 
The  clergyman,  in  his  office  as  pastor,  priest  or 
prophet,  serves  the  church  ;  as  a  citizen,  and  with 
views  of  duty  enlightened  and  enlarged  by  his  su- 
perior literary  acquirements — the  scriptures  inclu- 
sive— he  serves  the  state.  The  two  functions  are 
entirely  distinct,  yet  harmonize,  when  rightly  appre- 
hended. The  two  kingdoms — the  temporal  and  the 
spiritual — do  not  blend  nor  coalesce  ;  there  is  no 
union  of  elements.  They  are  parallel  forces,  and 
should  tend  in  one  direction,  and,  in  a  truly  natural 
sense,  to  one  end  ;  for  each  and  both  the  spiritual 
and  the  temporal  should  flow  from  one  fountain — 
the  true  and  the  right. 

8i.  Disadvantages  of  a  Church  and  State 
Union. — The  chief  disadvantages  of  a  Church  and 
State  union  are  : 

(i)  That  this  union  inculcates  a  false  idea  of  re- 
ligion— its  nature  and  office — exalting  the  formal 
and  the  temporal  to  the  loss  of  the  spiritual. 

(2)  It  invests  the  church  and  the  clergy  with  pow- 
ers, dignities  and  duties  that  do  not  pertain  to  their 
primal  function  and  essential  character  as  priest, 
pastor,  teacher  in  the  relations  of  man  to  the  great 
Creator,  Law-giver  and  Redeemer. 

Thus  in  England,  the  church  is  charged  with 
the  duty  of  instruction   at    large,  and  in  virtue  of 


nfSADVAyT-U;i:S:  C/irR(  H-STATE  CX/OX.  Jll 


this  important  function  and  service,  it  becomes 
one  of  the  estates  of  the  realm ;  namely,  one  of 
the  powers  of  the  government;  the  high  ecclesi- 
astics, the  bishops,  archbishops  being  entitled,  ex- 
officio,  to  seats  in  Parliament — their  bishoprics  be- 
ing endowed  at  government  expense  with  ample 
revenues. 

(3)  It  invests  the  government  with  powers  and 
duties  that  do  not  properly  pertain  to  it.  In  Eng- 
land the  king  appoints  the  bishops  to  their  bishop- 
rics. Henry  VIII,  by  consent  of  Parliament, 
assumed  the  title  of  "Head  of  the  Church"— a 
misnomer  except  in  a  sense  not  applicable  to  the 
church,  but  applicable  to  its  clergy  in  their  relation 
not  to  the  church,  but  to  the  state  alone  ;  namely,  in 
the  sense  that  the  king,  in  virtue  of  his  office,  may 
have  power  to  appoint  or  to  remove  the  clergyman, 
so  far  as  relates  to  the  use  of  the  clergy  in  state  in- 
terests, as  educators  of  the  people,  and  as  represent- 
ing in  Parliament  the  educational  interests  of  the 
realm — thus  far  the  clergy  being  and  constituting 
one  of  the  estates  of  the  kingdom.  In  P^ ranee, 
"The  Estates  General"  consisted  of  the  nobles,  the 
clergy,  the  commons — the  middle  class  in  towns 
and  the  peasantry. 

The  distinction  between  service  due  to  the  state 
and  service  due  to  the  church  is  clearly  made  by 
Jesus  when  he  says  : 

"Render  therefore  unto  Caesar  the  things  which 
are  Caesar's,  and  unto  God  the  things  that  are  God's." 
(Matthew  22  :  31.) 

(4)   The  church  and  its  dignitaries  become  puffed 


242         MORAL  AXD  RELKrIOl'S  SCIENCE. 

up,  and  claim  more  than  the  people  and  their  rulers 
at  first  intended. 

Thus  in  England,  extensive  properties  assigned  to 
and  possessed  by  the  lords  of  the  soil  and  the 
barons,  were  bestowed  upon  the  chureh  — that 
church  which  was  recognized  as  the  national  church. 
But  the  question  arises,  what  form  of  Christianity- 
should  be  national,  or  should  be  the  established 
church? 

The  question  gives  rise  to  contentions,  tumults, 
fightings,  wars,  and  finally  to  cruel  persecutions  for 
religious  opinions,  which  the  party  in  power  hold  to 
be  heretical ;  all  w  hich  is  entirely  at  variance  with 
the  letter  and  spirit  of  pure  religion,  of  "the  wisdom 
that  is  from  above,  first  pure,  then  peaceable,  gentle 
and  easy  to  be  entreated,  full  of  mercy  and  good 
fruits."     (James  3  :  17.) 

But  tcDipora  niutantui-  [times  changed]  and  inter- 
ests change  with  them  ;  and  by  a  revulsion  of  feel- 
ing consequent  upon  its  usurpations,  and  its  abuses 
in  doctrine  and  practice,  the  church  is  now  stripped 
of  its  ill-got  wealth,  and  more  too — is  deprived  of 
much  even  that  properly  belonged  to  it. 

82.  Public  Educatiox,  Ixstitutioxal. — Un- 
der the  several  heads  Education  as  social,  ethical, 
natural  and  logical,  the  public  function  of  education 
lias  been  discussed  somewhat,  and  there  is  little  oc- 
casion for  its  further  consideration. 

Education  begins  in  the  family ;  the  parents  have 
the  first  right  and  dut\-  in  the  education  of  children 
in  their  early  years.     In  ancient  times  this  was  gen- 


Pl/U./C  EDICATION;  INSTITUTIONAL.    243 

daily  the  only  instruction  children  received — very 
meagre — the  source  being  low.  Often  home  educa- 
tion and  training  is  very  defective,  and  of  tendency 
to  evil  from  the  igaiorance  or  the  moral  weakness  of 
parents,  as  in  the  case  of  the  high  priest  Eli,  who 
from  indolence  and  lack  of  moral  courage  allowed 
his  sons  to  fall  into  evil  ways — to  the  ruin  of  himself 
and  his  house  ;    for  we  read  that — 

"When  the  messenger  announced  that  Israel  had 
fled  before  the  Philistines,  and  that  his  two  sons 
Hophni  and  Phinehas  were  dead  and  the  ark  of  God 
taken,  Eli  fell  from  off  his  seat  backward  and  died, 
and  his  daughter  in  law,  Phinehas'  wife,  named  her 
infant  child  Ichabod,  saying.  The  glory  is  departed 
from  Israel,  for  the  ark  of  God  is  taken."  (I  Samuel 

And  Ichabod  is  written  in  the  history  of  every 
people  when  morality  and  religion  is  neglected  in  the 
education  of  its  youth. 

Warlike  states  like  Rome,  Sparta,  exercised  con- 
trol over  their  youth,  but  for  martial  purposes. 
They  were  educated  to  the  arts  of  war,  not  of  peace  ; 
hence  their  education  was  physical— a  mere  training 
for  strength  and  agility,  and  in  the  use  of  weapons. 
But  from  the  need  of  culture  and  training  to  secure 
qualities  serviceable  to  the  state  and  nation  in  time 
of  \\ar,  there  arose  the  general  idea  of  duty  on  the 
part  of  the  state  in  providing  means  of  education. 
This  is  specially  true  in  Christian  countries — in  sev- 
eral enlightened  states  of  Europe,  as  well  as  in  the 
United  States  of  America.  Here  with  us  the  system 
of    public  education    takes  the  place    the    national 


•244  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

church  in  England  has  been  wont  to  occupy  in  gen- 
eral education. 

83.  Family;  State  —  Which? — At  times  the 
question  has  arisen  as  to  the  siipcj-iority  in  educa- 
tional interests,  Shall  the  parent  or  the  state  deter- 
mine what  the  child  shall  be  taught  ? 

This  is  quite  like  the  question  of  superiority  in 
the  family  itself,  as  between  man  and  wife.  Each 
has  its  own  sphere  of  duties  and  rights,  and  each  in 
its  own  sphere  has  the  superiority. 

In  a  well  informed  and  well  regulated  household 
this  question  of  superiority  will  never  arise  ;  neither 
side  will  encroach  upon  the  other.  But  if  the  wife, 
without  reason,  claims  rights  that  do  not  belong  to 
her,  the  man  may  assert  his  superiority ;  on  the 
other  hand,  if  the  man,  without  reason,  claims 
rights,  the  woman  may  not  be  able  to  assert  su- 
periority. 

In  a  moral  as  well  as  a  legal  view,  the  question 
of  superiority  must  be  subordinate  to  that  of 
duty. 

Under  Democratic-Republican  institutions,  educa- 
tion to  a  certain  extent,  and  to  a  large  extent,  must 
be  in  common  ;  that  the  youth  in  all  stations  in  life 
may  learn  to  respect  each  other,  and  to  mingle  to- 
gether in  public  on  an  easy  footing  of  kind  regard 
born  of  youthful  associations  and  a  recognition  of 
common  interests  and  of  manly  virtues. 

The  question,  then,  is  one  of  duty,  and  can  be- 
come one  of  superiority  only  when  duty  fails. 

In  education,  what  duties  do  the  individual  and 


CAPITAL;  LABOR— THE  IDEA.  245 

the  family  owe  to  the  state ;  and  what  does  the  state 
owe  to  them  ? 

It  is  an  ethical  question  in  moral  and  civic  rela- 
tions. 

As  individuals  and  as  families,  men  are  in  duty 
bound  to  realize  a  culture  that  best  qualifies  for  citi- 
zenship and  the  service  of  the  state ;  and  on  the 
other  hand,  the  state,  in  the  interest  of  the  people 
and  of  progressive  life-giving,  life-preserving  institu- 
tions, is  bound  to  require  of  the  individual  and  of  the 
family  this  necessary  culture  whenever  a  deficiency 
occurs  — from  whatever  cause  —  whether  from  the 
general  laxity  of  chronic  ignorance  and  indolence, 
or  from  the  tendencies  of  a  partial  or  misleading  or 
vicious  home  or  private  education. 

84.  Capital:  Labor  —  The  Idea. — Before  we 
can  advisedly  enter  upon  an  ethic  view  of  capital 
and  labor  in  their  relation  to  each  other,  it  is  neces- 
sary that  we  have  some  preliminary  consideration 
and  understanding  of  their  economic  principles. 

(i)  Capital  is  not  Labor,  though  in  the  United 
States  the  capitalist  largely  combines  his  own  labor 
with  his  capital,  and  in  general  is  a  hard  worker. 

Capital  derives  its  meaning  from  caput,  the  head, 
and  implies  that  Mind — wisdom  and  prudence — has 
been  exercised  in  taking  care  of  the  united  products 
of  prior  capital  and  labor  to  secure  means  for  the 
employment  of  present  and  future  labor. 

Capital  in  its  idea  also  includes  material ;  it  means 
the  supply  of  all  that  is  necessary  to  keep  work  at 
work. 


2J:6  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

The  farmer-capitalist  provides  land,  teams,  farm 
machinery,  seed,  and  also  food  and  cash,  the  wages 
of  his  hired  help. 

The  manufacturer  provides  mills,  power,  material 
or  raw  stock,  and  suitable  machinery  for  its  manu- 
facture, as  well  as  cash  wages  for  the  employee. 

Capital  is  like  the  main-spring  of  a  watch ;  it  sets 
all  the  wheels  in  motion  ;  and  when  capital  is  de- 
stroyed by  fire  or  flood  or  riot,  there  is  so  much  less 
power  for  the  employment  of  labor. 

(2)  Labor  is  not  Capital. — It  is  becoming  fashion- 
able to  speak  of  labor  as  the  capital  of  the  laboring 
man  ;  but  labor  is  not  capital — is  not  entitled  to  the 
earnings  of  capital  ;  it  is  a  misnomer  and  a  mislead- 
ing notion  which  a  public  lecturer  or  teacher  will 
now  and  then  carelessly  give  utterance  to  ;  it  tends 
to  the  erroneous  notion  that  the  laborer  has  a  right 
to  some  of  the  profits  of  capital  ;  but  he  has  a  right 
only  to  fair  com[)ensation  for  good  work  in  aid  of 
ca[)ital  prosecuting  the  business,  wlK'tlur  there  be 
profit  or  loss.  If  we  sa}'  that  labor  is  capital,  and 
hence  that  the  laborer  is  entitled  to  share  in  the 
profits,  by  parity  of  reasoning  we  also  sa)-  that  he 
must  share  in  the  loss,  when  there  is  one,  as  is  often 
the  case. 

It  is  true  that  in  a  continual  course  of  i)r(-)S[)erit)' 
or  cjf  adversity — "good  times,  liard  times"  the 
\sages  of  labor  will  advance  or  decline,  as  they 
should  ;  but  the  present  time  or  season  can  alone  be 
regarded  in  determining'  wages. 

There  may  be,  and  often  is,  by  agreement,  a 
.share  of  "profit  and  loss"  accorded  to  the  old  and 


CAPITAL;  LABOR— THE  IDEA.  2-17 

skilled  employee.  This  arrangement  proves  bene- 
ficial. Thereby  the  employee  becomes,  in  some  de- 
gree, a  partner  and  a  capitalist.  He  puts  his  intel- 
lect, skill  and  attention  more  to  the  work  ;  takes 
increased  interest. 

This  is  what  he  gives — the  quid  pro  quo — to 
entitle  him  to  a  share  in  profit  and  loss,  and  in  a 
qualified  sense  to  be  called  a  capitalist — not  in  a  full 
sense — unless  he  also  puts  in  material  to  work  on. 

(3)  Tlie  zvagcs  of  Labor  means  what  wages  or  pay, 
in  the  medium  of  exchange — gold  or  silver  coin — a 
man  is  entitled  to  in  virtue  of  what  he  accomplishes 
or  produces  by  muscular  exertion.  If  the  laborer 
furnishes  his  own  tools  ;  the  woodchopper  his  axe,; 
the  stone-mason  his  hanmiers ;  the  plasterer  his 
trowels  ;  the  farm  hand  his  hoe — these  tools  are  to 
be  regarded  as  an  extension  of  the  man's  muscular 
ability  ;  and  so  also  is  his  skill  and  effectiveness  in 
the  use  of  tools  and  machinery  to  be  counted  as  an 
adjunct  of  manual  labor.  The  aniou)it  of  wages 
then  depends  directly  on  the  quantit}'  and  quality 
of  the  work  done,  of  the  fabric  produced,  and  the 
value  of  iK.'agiS  thus  determined  in  amount  deptnuls 
on  its  power  in  purchasing  such  things  as  the  laborer 
needs. 

(4)  W^luc  of  Products  :  The  capitalist,  the  pro- 
ducer, is  justified  in  \aluing  his  ))roducts  only  by 
the  quantity  and  qualit}-  of  the  labor  used  in  their 
production,  as  compared  with  the  cjuantity  and 
quality  of  the  labor  employed  in  producing  those 
goods  which  he  gets  in  exchange. 

Thus,  if  a  farmer  in  har\"est  time,  on  accoimt  of  a 


2i8         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

scarcity  of  help,  pays  three  dollars  per  diem  wages, 
he  gets  no  more  for  his  wheat,  oats  or  hay  than  if  he 
paid  but  one  dollar  per  day — which  is,  perhaps,  all 
he  can  pay  without  loss,  when  wheat  is  less  than  one 
dollar  per  bushel.  The  extra  wages  he  has  paid  does 
not  at  all  raise  the  market  price  of  wheat.  He  can 
adjust  the  loss  only  by  extra  curtailment  in  family 
expenses,  or  in  the  rate  of  wages  to  his  regular  help. 
He  must  rob  Peter  to  pay  Paul. 

So  is  it  with  the  lumberman  and  the  manufacturers 
of  wool  and  of  cotton  goods  ;  the  market  value  of  their 
products  does  not  depend  on  the  cost  of  labor,  but 
on  the  quantity  and  quality  of  the  labor  put  into 
ijiem  as  compared  with  that  put  into  what  they  re- 
ceive in  exchange — supplies,  machinery,  wool,  cot- 
ton, cash.  This  is  the  underlying  principle  in 
estimating  the  value  of  goods  sold  and  bought. 
Of  course  it  is  modified  by  accidents — as  a  shortage 
or  a  superabundance  in  supply  or  in  demand  ;  but 
these  accidents,  for  most  part,  are  too  dimly  fore- 
shadowed to  modify  labor  contracts. 

(5)  Vahic  of  Labor :  The  value  of  labor  to  the 
employer  of  it  depends  also  upon  what  he  can  ob- 
tain in  exchange  for  the  products  of  labor,  after 
deducting  a  fair  proportion  for  his  own  time  and 
skill  in  supervision,  and  ff)r  the  use  and  risk  of  his 
capital  in  aid  of  production. 

The  due  adjustment  of  wages  is,  then,  a  compli- 
cated matter,  in  which  no  one  is  more  competent  to 
judge  tiian  the  emplo}'cr  himself,  who  in  reason  can 
see  through  his  own  business  better  than  another. 


union  of  capital;  of  labor.         249 

85.  Union  of  Capital;  Union  of  Labor. — 
Man  is  of  a  social  nature,  and  those  persons  who  by 
similarity  of  work  or  business  are  exercised  in  like 
thoughts,  feelings'  and  habits,  have  a  natural  fond- 
ness for  each  other's  company,  because  between 
them  an  interchange  of  ideas  is  comparatively  eas)- ; 
and  too,  the  social  nature  is  stimulated  by  the  hope 
of  advantage  from  a  comparison  of  views,  and  their 
practical  application  in  their  business  or  vocation. 

The  union  also  tends  to  develop  the  better  feel- 
ings of  human  nature  in  this*:  a  selfish  nature  might 
argue  thus:  I  know  some  things  about  my  business 
that  my  business-fellows  do  not  know  ;  this  gives  me 
an  advantage  over  them.  I  will  hold  on  to  it,  by 
keeping  m}-  own  counsel  and  secrets.  But  good-will 
and  the  social  sentiments  say  :  Let  me  impart  to  my 
fellows  this  knowledge,  for  it  accords  with  the  pre- 
cepts of  scripture,  as  well  as  with  the  law  of  natu^'c, 
that  a  man  should  look  not  merely  upon  his  own 
affairs,  but  upon  those  of  his  neighbor  in  a  benefi- 
cent, not  a  meddlesome  sense. 

To  the  credit  of  business  circles  in  the  United 
States,  this  is  almost  the  universal  rule  and  practice. 
If  a  business  man  discovers  an  improvement  or  bet- 
ter way  in  his  method  of  manufacture,  it  is  a 
pleasure  to  him  to  make  it  known  to  his  confreres; 
and,  in  fact,  this  is  reall)-  his  interest,  for  the  moral 
consideration  far  outweighs  the  temporary  money 
profit. 

From  natural  and  habitual  abilities  or  defects 
there  will  be  differences  great  and  i)ositi\'e  in  men 
in  the  conduct  u{  Inisiness,  as  well  as  accidental  cir- 


250         MORAL  AXD  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

cumstances,  that  result  in  success  or  failure ;  and 
these  necessary  differences  should  not  be  increased 
and  aggravated  by  a  disregard  of  the  amenities  of 
life  arising  from  mutual  counsel,  ad\'ice,  and  e\-en 
aid  when  needed,  not  from  lack  of  industry  and 
fair  ability,  but  from  unforeseen  causes. 

Herein,  then,  is  the  underlying  r//'/V-//-/;/ri'//r  in  the 
union,  of  capital  or  of  labor.  It  must  be  grounded 
in  the  natural  law  of  social  fraternity,  and  of  good- 
icill  applied  to  beneficent  purposes. 

As  an  instance  of  the  right  kind  of  labor-union, 
we  cite  to  that  old  "Society  of  Mechanics,"  organ- 
ized 1784  in  New  York  city  for  mutual  aid  and  en- 
couragement and  assistance  to  members  and  to  their 
widows  and  orphans  in  case  of  need.  Since  then 
they  have  accomplished  other  useful  work,  founded 
a  mechanics'  bank,  a  mechanics'  school,  librar}-,  read- 
ing room,  courses  of  lectures  — all  praiseworthy, 
legitimate  and  practical  objects. 

86.  TiiK  Union  as  a  Regulator  of  Wages. — 
Were  men  always  actuated  by  enlightened  views  of 
their  moral  relations,  there  would  be  no  need  of  any 
objects  in  the  "union"  other  than  those  already 
named  ;    but  offenses  will  come. 

The  capitalist  and  the  laborer  should  agree  on 
fair  terms  without  outside  aid  or  interference,  and, 
if  let  alone,  almost  always  will.  There  should  be  no 
desire  and  no  effort  by  either  party  to  unduly  reduce 
or  advance  wages. 

In  case,  however,  of  individual  disagreements,  the 
"  business  circle  " — the  "  labor  circle  "  may  separately 


rX/O.V  AS  A   RE(,LLATOR   OF   WAGES.      2:>l 


and  mutually  determine  wluit  is  fair ;  and,  if  no 
agreement  is  thereby  arrived  at,  the  two  parties 
must,  in  a  spirit  of  good-will,  agree  to  disagree,  even 
though  it  may  lead  to  a  rupture  of  relations  and 
change. 

The  regulative  union  must  be  a  union  limited 
to  one  locality  and  to  one  line  of  business.  Under 
no  circumstances  would  it  be  right  to  extend  the 
circle  of  disagreement  to  include  other  lines  of  busi- 
ness in  the  same  locality,  or  like  lines  in  other  locali- 
ties. This  would  be  combination  and  conspiracy 
on  the  part  of  capitalists  or  of  laborers,  or  of  both,  to 
bring  about  a  crisis  and  disaster  in  some  one  line,  or 
in  all  lines  of  business,  to  the  distress  of  the  public 
at  large. 

If  it  be  said  that  it  would  be  as  wrong  for  a  small 
and  limited  union  of  employers  and  of  employees  to 
assume  and  maintain  contra  views  as  for  a  larger 
union,  the  easy  reply  is,  that  the  conditions  of  the 
same  trade  differ  in  different  localities,  and  hence  a 
local  question  is  not  a  general  one,  and  neither  local 
parties  nor  outside  parties  have  right  to  assume 
that  it  is;  and  further,  the  local  dispute,  though  disa- 
greeable and  harmful,  cannot  result  in  great  harm  ; 
and  yet  is  harmful  enough  to  serve  as  a  lesson  to  all 
to  avoid  such  disagreement  if  possible  ;  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  for  either  capital  or  labor  to  enlarge  the 
circle  of  disagreement  manifests  a  deliberate  inten- 
tion to  carry  one's  point  by  coercion  and  force,  and 
has  no  moral  standpoint.  It  would  be  an  act  worthy 
of  public  condemnation  and  stringent  legislation, 
municipal,  state  and  United  States, 


252       moral  and  religious  science. 

87.  Capi'ial  Combination,  as  Abnormal. — 
The  combination  of  capital  for  the  purpose  of  en- 
hancing profits  by  means  of  too  low  wages,  or  by 
high  prices  for  food,  fuel,  light  and  fabrics  of  any 
sort,  are  artificial  organizations  immoral  in  intent 
and  in  tendenc)-,  and  destructive  of  individual  and 
public  rights.  Chiefly  is  this  true  of  monopolies ; 
specially  so  of  those  miscalled  trusts.  Such  organi- 
zations should  be  tolerated  only  when  under  subjec- 
tion to  state  legislation  and  the  judiciary  informed 
and  advised  by  a  competent  inquisition. 

88.  The  Labor  Union,  as  Abnormal. — 

"Act  well  jour  part,  tliere  all  the  honor  lies." 

— Essav  oil  Man. 

A  chief  objection  to  organizations  of  this  sort  is 
that  they  deaden  every  sentiment  like  the  one  Pope 
gives  us  in  the  line  here  cited. 

Naturally  men  are  ambitious  to  distinguish  them- 
selves in  competition  and  in  comparison  with  their 
fellow  men,  and  this  ambition  is  a  very  proper  and 
beneficial  one,  provided  it  be  not  conjoined  with  a 
feeling  of  triumph  over  those  whom  w^e  excel.  The 
desire  to  excel  in  everything  laudable  is  itself  also 
laudable,  and  without  this  desire  we  can  have  no 
hope  of  success  in  life.  But  this  honest  and  neces- 
.sary  desire  is  repressed  and  trampled  upon  when 
men  are  banded  together  in  a  labor  union  that  prac- 
tically requires  the  employer  to  pay  the  same  wages 
to  each  man  without  regard  to  the  difference  in  the 
value  of  the  work  done  in  severalty.    Thus  it  is  that 


THE  LABOR   I'XIO.W  AS  ABXORMAL.        IhW 

the  leading  principle  in  the  labor  union  is  unnatural, 
abnormal  and  harmful  to  the  well  being  of  the 
social  compact  ;  and  thus  it  is  that  the  labor  union 
as  a  permanent  institution  cannot  last,  unless  it  be 
put  upon  a  natural  basis.  When  men  become  edu- 
cated by  study  and  experience — even  dear  bought 
experience — to  their  true  relations,  each  to  the 
other,  "every  tub  will  stand  on  its  own  bottom  ;" 
that  is.  in  the  sense  of  getting  a  living — and  of  "get- 
ting on  in  the  world."  Each  man  should  hoe  his 
own  row  ;  and  if  from  inability  he  falls  behind  so  far 
as  to  really  need  help,  then  help  should  be  cheer- 
fully given  from  a  sentiment  of  charity — brotherly 
love — not  from  a  pretense  of  his  being  entitled  to  it 
as  wages.  There  are  few  men  that  would  need  help 
if  they  were  not  encouraged  in  idleness  and  in- 
efficiency by  being  placed  on  a  par  with  the  skilled 
and  the  industrious.  Good  work  is  almost  always  in 
good  demand.  The  manufacturer,  the  man  of  large 
affairs  in  whatever  business,  cannot  do  without  it, 
and  in  general  will  pay  well  for  it. 

In  labor  unions,  abnormal,  there  is  a  subjection  of 
individual  responsibility  to  the  dictum  of  the  few  or 
the  many. 

The  result  is  arbitrary  power  and  tyranny  de- 
structive of  a  proper  self-respect  and  independence 
in  the  individual,  and  of  all  elements  essential  to  the 
education  of  men  in  right  ideas  of  freedom  and 
civil  liberty  ;  and_  to  the  commonwealth,  as  well  as 
to  business  prosperity  and  enterprise,  they  are  as 
pestiferous  as  wild  oats  or  Canada  thistles  in  a 
wheat  field. 


254  MORAL   A  X I)  RELrclOUS  SCIEXCE. 

Anarchy  and  some  secret  societies  tend  to  like  re- 
sults, and  are  of  a  treasonable  chai'acter. 

A  lawful  union  or  combination  becomes  unlawful 
when  by  its  acts  the  rights  of  others  are  invaded  ;  it 
is  then  a  conspiracy.  "An  officer  may  throw  up  his 
commission  when  he  likes,  but  if  a  number  of  officers 
combine  to  throw  up  their  commissions  at  the  same 
time,  it  is  a  punishable  act." 

Other  evils  of  the  labor  union  in  late  years  are : 
(i)  The  employer  has  no  freq  choice  in  hiring  men, 
and  is  oppressed  by  a  "strike,"  ordered  when  heavy 
contracts  are  in  hand  ;  (2)  injustice,  by  ranking  the 
indolent    and    unskilled    with    the    honest     laborer ; 

(3)  tyranny    and    oppression    towards   apprentices  ; 

(4)  intimidation  and  abuse  of  workmen  not  in  the 
union ;  (5)  intimidation  of  capitalists,  and  so  in- 
dustries are  driven  to  other  places  and  countries, 
and  the  very  source  of  their  own  living  is  dried  up  ; 
(6)  the  violent  and  criminal  in  the  union  fearfully 
championed;  (7)  the  home  and  family  circle  neg- 
lected ;  (8)  destructiveness  and  lawlessness  an  ha- 
bitual pastime. 

89.  The  Sum  and  the  Moral. — The  sum  and 
the  moral  of  it  is  that  liberty  and  free  institutions 
are  endangered  by  overgrown  organizations,  and 
that  they  have  no  right  to  exist  under  conditions 
hostile  to  the  public  good,  and  so  a  menace  to  the 
peace  and  dignity  of  the  state. 

The  ignor.int  and  the  e\il  minded  imagine  that 
free  institutions  are  established  to  favor  oppression, 
lawlessness,  anarchy ;  and  for   them   not    only  mis- 


77/ /i   .vr.U  AND    THE   MORAL. 


sionary  work  is  in  order,  but  severe  law,  if  need  be, 
to  disabuse  them  of  ideas  so  contradictory  and  mis- 
chievous. Moral  suasion  will  educate  and  civilize 
the  well-disposed,  but  not  those  whose  good-will, 
weak  by  nature,  has  been  spoiled  by  bad  training, 
bad  company  and  bad  counsel. 

These  can  be  made  wise  only  according  to  Pro- 
verbs 26 :  3  :  "A  whip  for  the  horse,  a  bridle  for  the 
ass,  and  a  rod  for  the  fool's  back." 

If  capital  and  labor  cannot  walk  together  in  unity, 
then  let  us  have  the  health,  peace  and  happiness 
there  is  in  the  poverty  of  Small  affairs  and  economic 
living,  each  in  the  measure  of  his  fitness  and  ability, 
and  so  let  there  be  a  due  limit  set  by  law  to  capital 
and  to  labor  centralization.  Two  other  suggestions 
and  we  close. 

Suggestion  i.  That  as  unions  of  either  capital  or 
labor  have  legal  existence  only  perforce  of  legisla- 
tion, general  or  special,  and  in  conformity  to  what  is 
just  and  right,  there  should  be  a  court  of  appeal  for 
the'settlement  of  all  questions  between  capital  and 
labor — but  not  to  include  cases  wherein  the  capital 
is  comparatively  small,  and  the  men  employed  few 
in  number.  Let  these  take  care  of  themselves  on 
the  general  law  of  supply  and  demand.  The  extent 
of  the  limitation  is  not  so  important  as  the  fact. 
The  condition  might  apply  to  a  capital  of  $5OO,CXD0, 
and  to  an  employment  of  five  hundred  men.  It  is 
the  large  corporations  or  trusts  that  are  abnormal 
and  oppressive,  and  it  is  where  large  numbers  of 
men  are  emplo}-ed  b\-  one  corporation  that  it  be- 
comes a  hardsh.ip  to  be  throw  11  out  of  employment, 


25(1         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

whether  it  be  by  their  own  error  or  by  that  of  the 
employer. 

Suggestion  2.  That  co-operative  work  is  practic- 
able and  successful  when  engaged  in  by  honest, 
capable  men — and  no  business  succeeds  without 
these  qualifications  in  the  management.  Let  the 
strike  take  this  form  when  capitalists  refuse  justice 
to  the  employed. 

Let  laborers  become  capitalists  by  pooling  their 
savings.     "  Many  a  little  makes  a  mickle." 

If  men  individually  and  collectively  have  not  faith 
for  this  departure,  then  let  them  be  content  with 
their  wages — such  as  they  can  obtain  in  virtue  of 
good  work,  and  without  resort  to  unjustifiable,  arbi- 
trary measures. 

90.  Public  Education  {note). — It  has  already 
been  indicated  that  this  education  should  be  in  the 
inculcation  of  true  principles  of  liberty,  individual, 
religious,  civil  and  political,  to  secure  the  true  quali- 
ties of  a  good  citizen,  which  can  be  found  only  in 
enlightened  moral,  religious  manhood — in  a  knowl- 
edge of  those  branches  of  philosophy,  science  and 
art  that  directly  tend  to  educate  the  people  for  gen- 
eral usefulness,  and  in  true  ideas  of  liberty  and 
patriotism. 

This  proposition,  as  stated  in  general  terms,  all 
admit ;  but  when  we  come  to  particulars,  there  are 
diverse  voices.  For  instance:  Archbishop  Ireland 
read  before  the  National  Educational  Association 
convened  (July,  1890)  at  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  a  paper  on 
"  Religious  Education  in  Schools,"  which  contained 


PUBLIC  EDUCATION.  257 

many  timely  truths.     Some  of  his  valuable  words  as 
reported  read  thus: 

"  The  State  must  come  forward  as  an  agent  of  instruction,  else 
ignorance  will  prevail.  Indeed,  in  the  absence  of  state  action, 
there  never  was  that  universal  instruction  which  we  have  so 
nearly  attained,  and  which  we  deem  necessary." 

"  There  is  dissatisfaction  with  the  state  school  as  at  present 
organized.  The  state  school,  it  is  said,  tends  to  the  elimination 
of  religion  from  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  youth  of  the 
country.  The  great  mass  of  the  children  receive  no  fireside 
lessons,  and  attend  no  Sunday-school,  and  the  great  mass  of  the 
children  of  America  are  growing  up  without  religion." 

"  Do  not  say  that  the  state  school  teaches  morals,  christians 
demand  religion.  Morals,  without  the  positive  principles  of 
religion,  giving  to  them  root  and  sap,  do  not  exist." 

These,  and  many  similar  utterances  which  our 
limited  space  excludes,  well  indicate  the  defects  in 
moral  and  religious  education  which  it  is  the  main 
object  of  this  volume  to  remov'e. 

As  to  the  objection  of  this  eminent  prelate  to 
religious  instruction  in  the  public-school,  on  the 
ground  that  it  would  not  have  the  stamp  of  catho- 
licity, and  on  the  ground  of  conscience  scruples— it 
is  not  in  the  province  of  this  book  to  regard  these 
matters,  except  to  refer  the  reader  to  the  considera- 
tion of  the  function  of  the  conscience  as  herein  and  as 
generally  held — its  authority  and  its  limitations  from 
liability  to  error,  through  ignorance,  perversity  and 
a  one-sided  education,  and  that  the  religious  con- 
science can  have  no  standing  in  its  claim  for  rever- 
ential regard  save  when  it  is  grounded  upon  the 
moral  conscience.  Otherwise  the  religious  con- 
science  plea   is  liable    to   be  carried   to   an   abusive 


258         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

extent.  It  was  against  the  religious  conscience  of 
Robert  Morris  to  fight  an  enemy,  yet  he  gladly  gave 
to  his  country  the  aid  of  his  great  ability  in  pro- 
viding the  sinews  of  war. 

Further,  we  point  to  the  ground-principle  in  this 
volume — to  the  doctrine  of  necessary  and  universal 
thought  in  religion — in  Christianity — in  morals  and 
other  science,  as  a  "  stamp  of  catholicity  "  upon  the 
very  substance  of  religion,  to  wit,  conviction  of  sin, 
faith  in  God's  provision  for  man's  redemption,  hope 
and  joy  in  the  appropriation  of  it,  exentuating  in 
good  works.  Let  the  scholar  study  into  this  sub- 
stance and  possess  it,  if  he  will  ;  then  can  each  array 
truth  in  such  raiment  of  ritual,  church  polity  and 
creed,  as  his  own  observation  and  the  social  and 
church  influence  he  is  in  contact  with,  may  approve. 
Nor  will  men  who  are  self-satisfied,  and  see  no  need 
of  Divine  aid  to  improve  their  situation,  stand  in  the 
way  of  a  scientific  and  logical  investigation,  and  so 
act  the  part  of  the  dog  in  the  manger — neither  eat 
hay  nor  let  the  ox  eat  it. 

The  State  of  Wisconsin  has  spent  a  sum  of  money 
in  trying  to  determine  the  proper  way  of  cutting  a 
seed  potato  to  give  the  best  results.  After  all 
experimenting,  the  ofificial  in  charge  could  only  say 
that  at  times  the  longitudinal  cut,  or  the  transverse, 
or  the  clip  of  the  eye-end,  or  even  the  potato 
planted  whole  would  do  best ;  it  depended  much  on 
the  soil  and  the  spell  of  weather.  Of  one  thing, 
however,  the  farmer  might  be  sure:  to  insure  a  good 
crop,  the  potato-slip  with  not  less  than  one  good, 


PUBLIC  EDI  CATION.  2:)0 


sound  eye  must  be  planted,  in  good  soil  and  well 
cultivated. 

This  is  exactly  what  is  requisite  in  public  school 
education.  The  moral  and  religious  nature  in  boys 
and  girls  must  be  planted  in  generous  soil — not  in 
one  barren  of  religious  elements,  and  must  be  duly 
cultivated  and  k*ept  clear  of  weeds. 

State  officials,  doctors  of  divinity,  doctors  of  law 
— for  the  legal  mind  from  the  nature  of  its  employ- 
ment has  enlarged  views  of  religion — would  be 
competent  to  determine  what  are  the  necessary 
laws  of  life  and  growth,  A\hen  they  could  say 
nothing  certain  about  sectarian  dogmas,  polities 
and  creeds — all  which  though  very  valuable  in  their 
way  as  tending  by  discussion  to  keep  alive  es- 
sential truths,  and  as  auxiliaries  in  promoting 
growth  and  progress,  do  in  themselves  contain 
but  little  of  the  essentials,  and  unless  guardetll\- 
stated  and  rightly  explained  are  apt  to  mislead  the 
unthinking  into  the  crude  idea  that  religion  is  a 
matter  of  form  rather  than  of  substance — a  matter 
of  dogmatic  statement,  and  of  positive  enactment, 
and  not — that  it  is  a  constitutional  provision  in  the 
soul,  and  a  law  of  the  spirit  in  man  in  his  relation  to 
the  Divine  law  and  government — for  law  and  order 
pervade  all  the  works  and  acts  of  God  including  a 
Law  of  Grace  whereby  "Justice  and  mercy  meet  to- 
gether." 

We  must  always  distinguish  widely  between  the 
work  of  the  school-room  by  instruction  in  the  princi- 
ples of  a  science  of  religion,  and  the  work  of  the 
church   in  the  practical  and  effectual  application  of 


2(i0         MORAL  AND  RELKilOUS  SCIENCE. 

those  principles  to  the  reclamation  of  the  sinner 
and  his  preparation  for  the  life  that  now  is,  and  is  to 
come.  On  the  other  hand,  instruction  in  the  sub- 
stance— the  necessary  truths  of  religion — prepares 
the  scholar  to  receive  the  aid  of  the  church,  or 
else,  as  circumstances  determine,  fits  him  to  go  on 
alone  in  the  attainment  of  a  right  life  here  and  of  a 
higher  life  hereafter. 

These  two  lines  of  duty:  That  of  the  state  in 
moral  and  religious  instruction,  and  that  of  the 
church  in  reclamation  and  edification  in  no  way 
interfere  or  overlap,  and  the  state's  work  is  not 
sectarian,  nor  can  be  ;  and  is  in  no  manner  a  union 
of  church  and  state,  nor  contra  to  the  constitution 
of  the  United  States;  but  rather  it  is  a  positive  duty 
of  the  state  to  do  this  work,  to  secure  to  all  our 
youth  elementary  education  in  all  philosophy  and 
science,  to  widen  the  sphere  of  their  ideas  and  feel- 
ings and  to  put  their  souls  in  a  large  place  high 
above  the  low  plane  of  a  strictly  secular  or  sectarian 
line  of  thought. 


EXPLANATORY  NOTES. 


Section  i.  Note  i.  Kant,  Immanuel  [1724- 
1804]  :  A  distinguished  German  philosopher  and 
professor  in  the  University  of  Konigsberg.  The 
leading  feature  of  his  philosophy  is  that  the  mind 
itself  furnishes  a  cognitive  factor  or  element  that 
transcends  that  in  sensation,  hence  the  transcen- 
dentalism of  his  philosophy ;  contra  to  Locke,  John 
[1632-1704],  an  English  philosopher,  of  an  easy, 
popular  style,  who  held  the  source  of  cognition  and 
knowledge  to  be  in  sensation — the  mind  itself  being 
regarded  as  a  blank,  or  as  white  paper,  till  furnished 
from  without. 

Hume,  David  [Edinburgh,  171 1-1776],  accepting 
the  philosophy  of  Locke,  deduced  therefrom  that 
the  idea  of  "  cause  and  effect  "  is  acquired  from  ex- 
perience, in  seeing  one  thing  or  appearance  follow 
another  in  regular  order ;  hence  we  could  have  no 
idea  of  a  First  Cause,  because  not  in  the  field  of 
sensation,  or  in  the  range  of  our  observation. 

This   legitimate  result  of  Locke's    theory    makes 

the  feature  of  Hume's   philosophy,  and  marks  it  as 

skeptical,  in  the  sense  that  it  gives  no  sure  origin  or 

ground  of  knowledge,  neither  of  the  world  nor  of  its 

Creator.     But    Locke   had   a  faith  in   the  scriptures 

361 


262  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

that  saved  him  from  spiritual  skepticism — from  the 
logical  tendency  of  his  o\\  n  philosophy. 

Note  2.  Categories:  The  a  priori  or  pure  no- 
tioi>s  of  the  understanding,  to  \\  it  :  notions  as  to 
Quantity,  Quality  and  Relation  or  Reciprocity.  They 
are  functions  of  the  understanding  employed  in  the 
cognition  of  objects. 

Sec.  2.  Note  i.  Cicero,  Marcus  Tullius  [b. 
io6  B.C.],  an  illustrious  Roman  orator,  philosophical 
writer  and  statesman,  called  "  the  father  of  his 
country  "  for  his  defeat  of  the  Catiline  conspiracy. 
As  an  author  he  was  voluminous  and  distinguished 
for  beauty  and  clearness  of  style  and  thought. 

Note  2.  De  Oeficiis:  the  title  of  Cicero's  ad- 
mirable treatise  on  the  Duties  of  Life. 

Note  3.  Deal  with  yourself — conscientiousl\'  ex- 
amine motives. 

Note  4.  Schools  :  Sects  in  philosophy  ;  the  ref- 
erence here  is  to  the  Epicureans,  who  see  a  supreme 
good  in  pleasure. 

Note  5.  Institutes:  Determines  its  location  antl 
in  what  it  consists. 

Note  6.    Chief  (JOOD  :  The  highest  end  oF  life. 

Note  7.  BniM)  b\-  the  excellenc}-  of  nature  ;  i.e., 
native  good  sense  and  dis[)osition  restrains  and 
counteracts  the  effect  of  the  false  principle  of  life 
he  has  instituted. 

Note  8.  Honesty:  In  Cicero's  usage  here  stands 
for  all  the  virtues. 

Note  9.  Character  of  Certitude:  Proposi- 
tions nocessaril)-  true  have  this  character;  for  ex- 
ample, the  geometrical  axioms^a  straight  line  is  the 


EX  PL  A  NA  rORV  N  O  TES.  263 

shortest    possible ;  parallels  do    not    meet ;    and    all 
theorems  logically  reasoned  therefrom. 

So  in  the  domain  of  morals,  there  is  certitude 
when  the  moral  quality  of  an  act  is  immediately 
perceived  or  is  self-evident,  as  in  feeding  the  hungry, 
succoring  the  distressed,  obeying  the  Creator.  Also 
there  are  moral  scntii)iciits  that  carry  within  them- 
selves a  conviction  of  truth  to  nature  ;  for  instance, 
of  this  kind  is  the  utterance  of  Chremes  in  one  of 
Terence's  comedies,  thus : 

"  1  am  a  man,  and  nothing  human  is  foreign  to  me." 

At  this  sentiment,  all  the  people  rose  up  with  a 
shout  of  approval,  because  of  its  accord  with  every- 
body possessed  of  the  right  feelings  of  humanity. 

Note  10.  O  Sox  Marcus  :  Cicero  is  writing  De 
Officiis  for  the  benefit  of  his  son,  whom  he  had  sent 
to  Athens  to  study  Greek  philosophy. 

Note  1 1.  Form  and  Features  of  Virtue  :  This 
is  a  ver\^  expressive  figure  of  speech,  personifying 
the  abstract  idea,  Virtue.  We  can  judge  something 
of  a  man's  character  by  his  features — the  expression 
of  his  countenance  ;  but  in  self-examination  and  in 
self-consciousness  we  have  a  clear  view  of  our  own 
inner  moral  features. 

Sec.  3.  Note  i.  Plato:  A  noted  Greek  philoso- 
pher; his  main  purpose  was  to  exhibit  principles  in 
the  art  of  method  in  the  investigation  of  truth.  His 
most  interesting  doctrine  is  that  of  innate  ideas,  that 
is,  forms  of  things  in  the  intellect,  as  of  a  circle  or 
other  geometrical  figure — these  evidently  are  mental 
types,  because  as  perfect   forms  thoy  are  not    found 


■2m  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

in  the  reality  of  nature  ;  and  forms  of  the  abstract 
sentiments  and  feeHngs  of  the  soul — as  of  truth, 
duty,  right,  beauty. 

Note  2.  Ideal  Republic:  The  central  object  of 
the  Platonic  philosophy  ;  a  body  politic  or  state  as 
near  perfection  as  may  be — not  so  much  by  means 
of  its  riches  and  material  prosperity  as  in  the  right 
education  and  training  of  the  people  in  sentiments 
of  patriotism  and  in  all  the  virtues. 

Sec.  4.  Note  i.  Allegory:  The  presentation  of 
som.ething  real  by  an  imaginary  picture  of  re- 
semblances, as  in  "  the  Vine ;"  also  in  Bunyan's  Pil- 
grim's Progress  is  a  fine  instance  of  the  allegorical 
method ;  also  in  the  eightieth  Psalm, 

Note  2.  De  Fl\IBUS  :  Cicero's  treatise  on  the  in- 
quiries of  different  sects  of  philosophers  into  the 
chief-good  oi  man — ills  inclusive,  for  the  full  title  is 
De  I-^inibus  Bonorum  et  Alalorum — the  Latin,  _/f«w/ 
the  Greek,  tclos^\.\\<i  end  of  things  good  and  evil, 
because  as  the  summum  bonum — chief-good — this 
end  itself  can  be  referred  to  nothing  else,  but  all 
must  be  referred  to  it.  In  Ancient  philosophy, 
physical  pain  and  evil  were  in  general  contrasted 
with  pleasure  and  "the  good." 

The  poet  Ennius,  as  Cicero  quotes  him,  modifies 
this  view  thus  : 

"  The  man  who  feels  no  evil  does 
Enjoy  too  great  a  good." 

This  sentiment,  that  pain  is  not  an  unmixed  evil, 
is  found  in  a  "philosophy  of  life"  regarded  as  pro- 
gressive or  evolutionary,  wherein   pain  ir>  one  of  the 


EX  PL  A  NA  TOR  r  NO  TES.  265 

necessary  forces  of  nature;  and  in  the  deep  phi- 
losophy of  scripture,  it  is  a  necessary  force  of  posi- 
tive value  in  the  development  and  lasting  perfection 
of  the  moral  nature.  See  Job;  Psalms  119:71;  Romans 
8  :  17-23  ;  I  Peter  i  :6,  7,  ct  passim. 

Note  3.  Pythian  Apollo  :  A  heathen  god  ;  son 
of  Jupiter,  famous  for  his  oracles.  On  the  site  of 
his  temple  he»slew  the  Python,  a  monster  serpent — 
hence  the  cognomen  Pythian. 

Note  4.  Ethically  (3beys  :  From  moral  feelings 
and  considerations,  not  from  constraint. 

Sec.  5.  Note  i.  Anxient  Philosophy:  The  ref- 
erence here  is  to  philosophy  as  cultivated  b)-  the 
Greeks. 

Note  2.  Epicurean:  So  called  from  Epicurus,  a 
noted  and  popular  teacher  of  philosophy,  who  lived 
just  after  Plato's  time.  His  principle  placed  the 
/i'/os,  finis,  or  the  siivnnuin  bonum,  in  pleasure  ;  yet 
Epicurus  is  credited  with  a  simple  and  frugal  habit 
of  life.  Cicero  finds  fault  not  with  the  man  him- 
self, but  with  the  tendency  of  his  narrow,  low  view 
of  life  to  mislead  his  numerous  disciples  and  fol- 
lowers. 

Note  3.  Stoic  :  A  sect  or  school  of  philosophy 
founded  by  Zeno.  The  name  comes  from  sioa,  the 
porch  where  Zeno  taught.  It  was  a  pictured  portico, 
the  most  famous  in  Athens,  hence  Stoic  literally 
means  "  the  man  of  the  porch."  Thuir  doctrines 
are  indicated  in  the  text. 

Peripatetic— •zi'^/X'///^'-  about :  This  name  comes 
from  the  public  walk  in  the  Lycaeum,  which  the 
disciples  of  this  school  frequented. 


266         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

Note  4.  Necessary  and  Universal:  Neces- 
sary, as  inborn,  constitutional :  Universal,  as  self- 
evident  to  the  soul  of  man,  and  so  acceptable  to  all 
men. 

Sec.  6.  Note  i.  Cate(;orical-Imperative: 
The  self-determination  of  the  moral  law,  through 
man's  moral  and  rational  nature;  liL'nce  this  moral 
law  is  constitutional  law — and  therefore  is  impera- 
tive, as  well  as  universal. 

Note  2.  Universal  Law:  See  section  5,  note  4; 
section  6,  note  i. 

Note  3.  Intuitions  OF  THE  S(3iiL:  An  intuition 
is  an  act  of  immediate  cognition  and  knowledge  as 
contrasted  with  knowledge  gained  by  reasoning  and 
experience:  thus  we  can  have  an  intuition  of  the 
duty  of  obedience  to  the  laws  of  (xod.  The  Creator 
must  be  infinitely  superior  to  the  creature,  from  the 
very  nature  of  this  relation,  and  should  tlierefore  be 
obeyed;  but  as  to  how  (jod  is  known,  or  what 
are  his  laws,  there  may  be  question.  This  question- 
ing involves  reasoning  and  experience,  and  so  we 
do  not  know  God  and  his  laws  by  intuition  except 
when  the  revelation  of  (lod,  or  the  law  of  God, 
is  self-evident. 

Note  4.  Necessary  Fj,i:meni':  iM)unded  in  the 
necessities  of  the  moral  nature. 

Note  5.  Me'I'IIoI)  :  "A  rational  progress  towards 
an  end." 

Note  6.  CRirrcAl.  Piiilosoi'1I\- :  That  of  K.mt, 
so  called  from  his  "Critique  of  Pure  Reason." 

Nr)te  7.  A  Priori  Character:  Distinctixe  marks 
of   a  foi'ui  of  thought  pre-existent  in  the  mind  pricjr 


EX  PLAN  A  TOR  T  NO  TES.  267 

to  experience  and  without  which  a  rational  experi 
ence  would  not  be  possible :  for  instance,  yesterday 
resting  on  a  rock  by  the  roadside,  it  felt  cold  to  me ; 
to-day,  it  feels  warm.  Here  there  are  two  distinct 
sensations  —  empirical  observations  —  and  nothing 
more.  But  if  I  account  for  them  by  saying  it  was 
cloudy  yesterday,  but  to-day  the  warm  sunshine  has 
heated  the  «cold  rock,  this  obserxation  as  to  the 
cause  of  difference  in  sensation  has  an  a  priori 
character.  It  originates  not  from  the  rock  nor  from 
the  sun,  nor  from  my  feelings,  but  from  the  intellect 
—  sensation  being  merely  the  inciting  cause. 

Note  8.  Practical  Fiiii.osophv  :  Critique  of 
"The  Practical-Reason."  It  explains  the  opera- 
tions of  the  soul's  intellectual,  moral  nature  within 
itself.  Its  application  is  to  the  moral  and  the 
religious;  whereas,  "Critique  of  Pure  Reason" 
regards  the  relations  of  the  understanding  to  the 
outer  world. 

Note  9.  Understanding.  By  the  understanding 
is  meant  our  faculties  for  acquiring  knowledge 
through  our  perception  of  sensations  received  from 
the  world  of  matter' outside  of  us.  The  understand- 
ing is  here  contrasted  with  the  pure  reason  which 
deals  with  jjure  thought,  as  in  mathematics  and 
logic. 

Note  10.  Empirical.  "  In  philosophic  language, 
the  term  empirical  means  simply  what  belongs  to  or 
is  the  product  (^f  experience  or  obser\'ation." — Haiii- 
i  It  0)1. 

Note  II.  Sensuous  Content.  When  an\'thing 
is  cognized  or  known  tlirough  our  senses,  the  object 


'2i)S  MolxWl.    AX/)  mil.KiTOUS  SCIENCE 


SO  known  is  said  to  be  sensuous  as  to  its  matter  or 
content. 

Note  12.  Moral  Intuition.  Note  3,  this  sec- 
tion.    "  Intuitions  of  the  soul." 

Note  13.  Certitude:     Section  2,  note 9. 

Note  14.  Character  of  Necessity  and  Uni- 
versality: It  is  by  Jicassity  of  thought  that 
we  say  two  halves  make  a  whole  ;  a  circle  is  round; 
a  triangle  has  three  sides;  an  object  occupies  space  ; 
time  is  represented  by  motion  ;  God  as  Creator  of  all 
is  Supreme;  and  there  is  universality  when  the  con- 
stitutional affections  of  the  soul  are  touched.  See 
section  2,  note  9.  These  characteristics  give  rise  to 
the  intuitive  or  self-evident.  By  some  mischance 
\)x.  McCosh  finds  fault  with  Kant  and  Hamilton  for 
making  this  character  the  test  of  truth  ;  reverses  the 
order  and  makes  necessity  and  universality  arise  from 
the  intuitive  or  self-evident.  See  Hopkins'  "Law  of 
Love,"  p.  329,  ed.  of  1884. 

Note  15.  Self-evident  has  been  sufificiently  ex- 
plicated in  the  preceding  note  and  in  section  2, 
note  9. 

Note  16.  Abstract  Form  :  The  general  idea  of 
duty  is  in  obedience  to  our  constitutional  moral 
relations. 

Sec.  7.  Note  i.  The  Good:  "The  good,"  say 
some  noted  philosophers,  ancient  and  modern,  must 
have  in  itself  a  good  on  the  ground  of  which  it  is  t/ie 
good,  antl  until  we  discover  this  a  good  as  the  chief- 
good,  there  can  be  no  moral  science.  Thus  good, 
well-meaning  men,  like  Saul  of  Tarsus,  have  set 
up  some  a  good  of   their  own  device  and  wisdom  as 


EX  PLAN  A  TOR  T  NOTES.  260 


the  ground  of  right  action  ;  hence  the  origin  of  most 
rcHgious  persecutions. 

Sec.  10.  Note  i.  Once  for  All:  Reference 
here  is  to  the  evolution  theory. 

Sec.  12.  Note  i.  Physical:  The  relation  of 
the  physical  to  the  intellectual,  the  moral,  the 
volitional,  all  admit.  Its  extent,  however,  is  not 
well  defined,  and  the  cause  is  obscure. 

Note  2.  Imagination:  The  office  of  the  imagina- 
tion is:  (i)  Productive,  as  when  by  its  aid  the 
manifold  of  single  objects  presented  through  sense- 
organism,  the  eye,  the  ear,  the  understanding 
faculties,  are  fashioned  by  an  act  of  synthesis  into 
separate  and  defined  objects  ;  as  when  we  determine 
the  varied  parts  of  a  landscape — here  the  hills,  there 
the  ravines,  the  woods,  the  fields,  the  winding 
stream,  the  vale.  This,  the  productive  imagination, 
is  a  transcendental  function — is  in  aid  of  the  under- 
standing in  arriving  at  correct  judgments  upon  the 
impressions  of  sense.  (2)  The  reproductive  imagina- 
tion is  in  aid  of  memory  in  recalling  vividly  past 
impressions.  (3)  Every  writer  makes  use  of 
imagery,  but  the  imagination  is  peculiarly  the  faculty 
of  the  poet,  and  also  of  the  artist.  (4)  Desires  may 
be  excited  by  the  imagination  beyond  due  bounds. 
This  is  an  abuse  oi  the  faculty.  "  Every  imagination 
of  the  thoughts  of  his  heart  was  evil."  (Genesis  6 : 
5.)  "  For  the  imagination  of  man's  heart  is  evil 
from  his  youth."  (Genesis  8:  21.)  "But  became 
vain  in  their  imaginations."  (Romans  i:  21.) 
(5)  Fear  lends  wings  to  the  imagination,  and  that  by 
interaction  heightens  the  fear. 


J7<)  M(WA[.   AXD  RELn.IOUS  SCIENCE. 

The  Fancy  \s  the  imagination  under  Hght  restraint, 
and  so  is  only  a  peculiar  form  of  it;  but  yet  by  the 
old  masters  the  fancy  is  used  in  a  generic  sense  to 
include  the  cognitive  faculties,  imagination,  concep- 
tion. 

Milton  thus  discourses  of  it : 

'•  But  know  that  in  the  soul 
Are  many  lesser  faculties  that  serve 
Reason  as  chief:  among  these  Fancy  next 
Her  office  holds.     Of  all  external  things 
Which  the  five  watchful  senses  represent, 
She  forms  imaginations,  aery  shapes." 
^  — Paradise  Lost,  Book  V. 

Note  3.  The  Understanding:  In  general  its 
of^ce  is  by  means  of  judgments  to  unify  knowledge 
received  through  our  perceptive  faculties.  Thus,  if 
we  perceive  part  of  a  roof,  chimney,  door,  or  window, 
we  judge  these  parts  belong  to  one  object — a  house, 
though  the  house  as  a  whole  may  be  concealed  by 
shrubbery;  trees,  woods. 

Note  4.  The  Reason  Verifies:  Thus  in  a 
transit  of  Venus  we  see  a  small  dark  spot,  the  size  of 
a  bullet,  very  slowly  traverse  the  disk  of  the 
sun.  By  the  concept  of  cause  our  understanding 
informs  us  that  either  the  said  spot  is  in  motion,  or 
else  the  sun,  or  both.  Reason  now  comes  to  the  aid 
of  the  understanding  to  correct  its  judgment  and  to 
clear  up  the  illusion.  It  informs  us  that  Venus, 
seen  as  a  dot,  with  a  motion  imperceptible  except  as 
measured  by  intervals  of  time,  is  not  in  reality  on 
the  face  of  the  sun,  but  is  speeding  in  its  orbit 
around  the  sun  at  a  distance  of  sixty-six  millions  of 


EXP  LA  NA  TCR  V  NO  TES.  271 


miles,  and  at  a  rate  of  about  77,000  miles  per  hour. 

Note  5.  Counsels  in  the  province:  Advises  as 
to  how  far  we  should  be  influenced  by  these  sensi- 
bilities. 

Note  6.  Speculates:  Thus  we  observe  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  aurora  borealis,  believe  in  an  open 
polar  sea,  realize  the  existence  and  the  useful,  benefi- 
cent purposes  of  light;  but  we  cannot  certainly 
determine  the  nature  and  the  causes  of  these  phe- 
nomena— they  are  beyond  the  range  of  our  undcr- 
staiiding;  but  in  the  use  of  our  reasoning  faculty 
we  can  speculate  about  their  origin  and  laws,  or 
manner  of  manifestation.  So  as  to  the  universe  of 
matter:  in  one  view  we  say  it  is  finite  ;  in  another 
view,  it  is  infinite.  The  reason  here  speculates,  but 
determines  nothing.  It  is  because  these  ideas — the 
finite,  the  infinite — have  no  limits  within  the  range 
of  our  understanding ;  they  are  beyond  its  reach. 

Sec.  12,  /;. 

"  The  development  of  the  human  consciousness,  accord- 
ing to  the  triple  principle  of  its  existence,  or  of  its  nature  as 
compounded  of  spirit  or  mind,  soul  and  animated  bodv,  must 
begin  with  the  soul,  and  not  with  the  spirit,  even  though  the  lat- 
ter be  the  most  important  and  supreme.  For  the  soul  is  the  first 
grade  in  the  progress  of  development.  In  actual  life,  also,  it  is 
the  beginning  and  the  permanent  foundation,  as  well  as  the  pri- 
mary root  of  the  collective  consciousness.  The  development  of 
the  spirit  or  mind  of  man  is  much  later,  being  first  evolved  in  or 
out  of,  by  occasion  of,  or  with  the  co-operation  of  the  soul." 
— Lee.  II.  Philosophy  of  Life. 

The  extract  sustains  the  idea  of  this  treatise  in 
positing  the  ground-principle  in  the  emotional  moral 
nature — not  in  the  ultimate  or  final  end  of  being. 


272         MORAL  A^-D  RELKilOLS  SCIENCE. 

Sec.  14.  Note  i.  Conxrete:  That  which  has 
material  substance. 

Note  2.  The  Highest  Good:  It  is  not  the  petty 
a  good,  nor  a  thousand  morally  good  things,  that 
constitute  and  determine  the  highest ;  but  practic- 
ally we  find  it  in  \\\q  good-zvi/l,  where  Kant  puts  it — 
in  the  natural  bent  of  the  disposition  to  love  and 
to  seek  whatever  is  pure,  true  and  right  ;  and  this 
longing  soul,  when  enlightened  by  the  Spirit's 
power,  finds  its  highest  end  in  God,  and  becomes 
like  him,  fruitful  and  abounding  in  good  works.     ' 

The  ground-principle  and  the  ultimate  "  chief- 
good  "  coincide  when  man  has  attained  to  the  per- 
fection of  his  nature.  In  this  state  he  truly  knows 
"  the  good,"  and  has  the  will  to  lay  hold  of  it. 
Practically,  however,  he  cannot  fully  know  "the 
good" — to  attain  to  such  knowledge,  he  must  know 
all  that  is  knowable  about  nature,  humanity  and  the 
Creator,  and  this  is  always  in  the  future  ;  but  man 
can  attain  to  the  good-will,  and  to  obedience  to  it — 
which  is  the  practical  ground-principle — the  chief- 
good.  This  is  within  the  reach  of  all,  lettered  or 
unlettered. 

We  have  thus  in  the  text  and  in  the  notes  fully 
explicated  "  the  good  "  and  the  "  a  good,"  because  the 
distinction  in  these  ideas  is  not  kept  well  in  hand  by 
certain  noted  moral-science  writers,  whose  systems — 
whether  they  will  it  so  or  not — surely  tend  to  ground 
morality  in  utility,  rather  than  in  the  beauty  of 
truth. 

Sec.  17.  Note  i.  Sign  here  means  the  repre- 
sentation we  make  to  ourselves  and  the  evidence  we 


EX  PL  A  NA  TOR  1 '  .V  O  TES.  273 

have  of  moral  power,  when  we  apprehend  and  appro- 
priate the  doctrine  of  morahty  and  rehgion  con- 
joined—two elements — one  moral  force,  like  as  the 
two  elements,  oxygen  and  nitrogen,  unite  to  make 
the  one  life-giving  element — the  air  we  breathe. 

Sec.  i8.  Note  i.  One  Regard:  The  forbidden 
fruit. 

Sec.  22.  Note  I.  Associated  Ideas,  etc.:  The 
reference  here  is  to  the  associational  and  materialistic 
schools  of  philosophy — Bain,  J.  S.  Mill,  Hume, 
Spencer. 

Note  2.  Repose  of  Faith  :   See  I  Timothy  i :  19, 

3:9- 

Sec.  23.  Note  i.  The  Idea  of  True  Freedom: 
Kant's  idea  is  that  the  will  is  a  faculty  that 
determines  to  action  in  accord  with  the  conception 
of  law. 

This  function  of  the  will  harmonizes  with  that  in- 
dicated in  the  text.  The  conception  of  law — of 
moral  law — is  an  intellectual  act,  but  becomes  the 
possession  of  the  soul's  moral  consciousness,  which 
includes  the  moral,  the  intellectual  and  the  \olitional 
natures.  The  will,  if  a  good  will,  determines  to 
action  in  accord  with  this  conception  as  mirrored  in 
the  moral  consciousness. 

Note  2.  MiNDiN(;  Earthly  Thin(;s:  This  is 
the  idea  in  "  P'or  I  delight  in  the  law  of  God,  after  the 
inward  man  ;  but  I  see  another  law  in  m}'  members 
warring  against  the  law  of  my  mind,  and  bringing 
me  into  captivity  to  the  law  of  sin  which  is  in  my 
members.     (Romans  7 :  22,  23.) 

Here    the    \\\\\  as    ego,  personal,  though   free,  is 


274  MOKAF.  A X D  RELK.IOIS  SCIENCE. 

wrought  upon  by  two  diverse  influences — the  law  of 
th.?  spirit  after  the  inward  man,  and  the  law  in  the 
outer  man — in  the  body.  A  true  view  of  the  Will's 
personality  and  autonom}-,  yet  as  under  instruction 
of  conscience  and  intellect,  leads  to  the  idea  of 
accountabilit}-,  and  of  transgression  as  sin  and 
guilt. 

Sec.  24.  The  reader  will  notice  that  in  this 
section  the  text  itself  elucidates  the  ideas  abstract, 
concrete. 

Note  I.  Feelixcs:  The  beautiful  story  of  Ruth 
and  Naomi  is  a  fine  instance  of  the  play  of  thought 
and  feeling  when  affections  become  sentiments. 

Sec'.  25.  N^te  2.  Ultimate:  Incapable  of 
further  analysis  and  definition. 

Note  3.  Objective  jVIeaxing:  When  written 
moral  law  refers  us  to  a  special  duty  or  obligation  as 
its  object,  and  so  makes  use  or  application  of  its 
principle. 

Sec.  28.  Note  i.  Writers:  For  instance.  Presi- 
dent Hopkins  in  his  "  Law  of  Love  and  Love  as  a 
Law." 

Sec.  29.  Note  i.  Ideai,:  Not  ?V/^v?/,  because  the 
absolute  is  self-existent,  unconditioned,  and  not  the 
creature  of  an  idea. 

Note  2.  Sufficient  Reason  :  To  wit,  given 
certain  effects,  there  necessarily  exist  certain  causes 
of  said  effects.  As  in  the  text,  and  for  another 
instance:  The  declaration  of  one  God  in  the  first 
two  commandments  is  attested  to  by  the  criterion 
of  the  sufficient  reason,  for  when  we  study  the 
material  universe  and  behold   the   numberless   marks 


EX  PL  A  NA  TORY  NO  TES.  275 

of  tlcsic^Mi,  we  see  that  tlicsc  attest  to  a  unity  of  pur- 
pose ard  will. 

Sec.  31.  Note  i.  Pil(;kim  Statue:  Said  to  be 
the  largest  statue  in  the  world,  from  a  single  block 
of  uranite. 


NOTES— PART  11. 

Sec.  34.  Note  i.  Ethics  comes  from  the  Greek 
ethos  (plural  ethe),  meaning  custom,  usage,  habit, 
manners ;  or  that  which  has  become  settled  rule  and 
law  ;  Latin,  nios,  mores  (morals) ;  for  example,  see 
I  Corinthians  15:  33:  "Be  not  deceived:  e\il 
communications  corrupt  good  manners  [////rj." 
The  adjectives  are,  Greek  et/iieos,  ethic ;  Latin 
iiioralis,  moral. 

Note  2.  Jehovah:    The  self-evident ;  the  eternal. 

Sec.  37.  Virtue  comes  from  I'ir,  man.  Thus, 
what  is  not  virtuous  is  not  manh-;  and  so  the 
essential  element  is  manliness,  or  duty  done  in  spite 
of  obstacles. 

Sec.  40.  Note  i.  The  Rise  of  Faith  :  Dante's 
view  of  Divine  agency  in  the  origin  of  faith  is  given 
in  ParaeiisCy  Canto  XXIV. 

" larga  pluvia 


Spiritus  sancti,  quae  est  diffusa 

Super  veteres  ct  super  novas  membranas." 

The  copious  rain  of  the  Holy  Spirit  which  has  been  showered 
upon  the  Scriptures  both  old  and  new. 


THB    SYNOPSIS. 


PART  I. 

DIVISION  I.     INTRODUCTORY  PRINCIPLES. 

Section  i.  Any  principle  for  morals  good  enough,  people 
say,  provided  the  practice  be  good ;  but  the  fact  is,  a  wrong  idea 
tends  to  a  wrong  act — Locke's  sense-knowledge;  Hume's  skep- 
ticism; Kant's  a  priori;  and  moral-science  requires  a  ground- 
principle  wholly  within  the  soul's  constitution. 

Sec.  2.  Ix  De  Officiis,  Cicero  notices  weighty  matters  crit- 
icalh'  discussed  upon  questions  of  duty. 

No  part  of  life,  private  or  public,  can  exclude  duty.  In  its 
culture  is  all  virtue,  in  its  neglect  is  all  baseness.  Whoso  so  in- 
stitutes the  chief-good  as  to  estimate  it  by  his  own  profit,  cannot 
cultivate  friendship,  justice  or  liberality. 

Honesty  is  to  be  sought  for  itself  alone.  Cicero's  division 
of  the  question  of  duty  into  what  pertains  to  the  chief-good  and 
what  to  precepts — a  generic  distinction.  His  enwrapt  vision 
and  eloquent  speech;  defines  philosophy;  reason  for  a  science  of 
morals. 

Sec.  3.  Ancient  philosophy,  by  inquiry  of  nature,  came 
near  a  true  principle.  Plato  put  the  chief •■good^  in  excellences 
of  body  and  mind  and  a  disposition  for  virtue — in  virtue  alone, 
yet  increased  by  favoring  environment,  by  wealth,  influence,  and 
whatever  promotes  a  habit  of  virtue,  giving  rise  to  a  principle  of 
duty,  namely,  the  preservation  of  nature.  Plato's  ideal  repub- 
lic— his  scheme  of  education — regards  fi)  moral-training;  (j) 
physical. 

The  moral  required  music  and  poetry  of  moral  tone,  truth  in 
literature  and  truth   to  nature;  hence  Plato's  idea — not  a  mere 

277 


278         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

drawing  out  of  the  faculties — meant  a  purified  soul.  The  special 
means  noticed. 

The  cultivation  of  the  reasoning  faculty  or  logic  completed 
the  course;  its  value  and  its  defects. 

The  morals  of  the  Greek  and  of  all  heathen  indexed  by  the 
character  thej  gave  to  their  gods;  hence  a  reflex  tendency  to 
reconcile  men  to  the  vfces  of  the  gods. 

Sec.  4.   Greek  philosophy  as  to  the  leadings  of  nature. 

Self-preservation,  the  first  impulse. 

This  principle  applies  to  the  moral  nature. 

The  Grape-vine  in  Allegory:  The  discernment  of  all  means 
for  attaining  to  the  chief -good  is  beyond  the  ken  of  man,  and  so 
there  must  be  an  appeal  to  the  Divinity — to  Pythian  Apollo,  who 
enjoins  us  "  to  know  ourselves."     What  children  evidence. 

The  moral-principle,  an  uncreated  element  that  has  its  seat 
and  abode  in  the  constitution  of  the  Creator,  as  the  essential 
element  of  his  being,  that  preserves  the  being  of  God. 

Cicero  sought  a  principle  for  man  that  preserves  man;  for  na- 
ture, that  preserves  nature.  Why  God  obeys  this  principle;  why 
man.     This  principle  domiiiates  nature. 

What  happiness  comes  from. 

Skc.  5.    What  clue  to  truth:    What  Cicero  overlooks. 

The  branch  of  morals  which  the  Greeks  call  politikos. 

What  a  knowledge  of  heavenly  things  imparts. 

Ancient  philosophy  falls  upon  the  trail  to  man's  soul  nature. 

SiA.  6.  Features  in  Kant's  philosophy — "  universal  law;"  the 
h  priori  character  of  the  moral  principle,  and  of  moral  intui- 
tions.    What  they  are — the  intuition  oT  Duty. 

l*lie  system  of  Kant  summarized;  the  transcendental  char- 
acter. 

Sec.  7.    How  we  know  there  is  a  principle  of  the  good. 

The  creation  of  anything  wrong  in  principle — not  conceival)le. 
The  unbalanced  fly-wheel  illustrates  l)y  its  chsrupture. 

Scripture  proof-text  as  to  the  good. 

Justification  in  positing  "the  good"  and  tlie  love  of  it  as  a 
principle. 

The  element  of  abstract  duty  as  of  forti  I'ul   tondeiuy. 

The  Divine  Constitution  the  true  grounil  of  ihity. 

The  ground  of  morality  and  the  ultimate  end  distinguished. 


THE    SYNOPSIS.  279 

Obedience  to  the  moral  nature,  the  ground  of  duty- 
Why  we  cannot  find  it  in  the  "  ultimate  end  " 

Examine  the  "corner  stone"  before  the  superstructure. 

Why  "  love  of  God,"  though  an  ultimate  end,  is  not  a  ground - 
principle. 

Sec.  S.  The  Religious  Element. — Webster'-;  definition; 
Cicero's  derivation,  vague  views. 

The  principle  of  morality  and  of  religion  contrasted  as  love  foi- 
a  principle,  and  as  personal  love,  the  latter  dependent  upon  tlu- 
former. 

A  morality  false  in  principle  contradictory. 

A  false  religion  possible  and  common. 

The  moral  element  is  strictly  ii  priori. 

The  religious  element  cannot  be  a  priori  pure.     Explain. 

The  distinctive  mark  of  a  true  and  ol  a  false  religion. 

The  proper  attitude  of  the  government  towards  religion. 

Sec.  9.  The  Superxatiral  in  Religion. — Men  ob)ect  to 
a  science  of  religion;  certainty,  they  say,  is  oniv  in  the  "natural. ' 

A  natural  effect  comes  from  a  natural  cause,  but  Kant  holds 
that  the  natural  cause  must  originate  in  a  supernatural  cause. 

This  view  illustrated  by  the  history  of  the  exodus  from  Egypt; 
specially  in  the  effect  upon  Moses — the  intusion  of  natural 
courage — bv  supernatural  cause;  the  Lord's  manifest  presence. 

Sec.  10.  A  supreme  cause  reason  demands  as  a  condition  ot 
natiu-e.  The  existence  of  a  moral  and  a  religious  rea'im  also 
;irgiu's  the  Supreme.  By  logical  method  "'  we  look  througii  na- 
ture up  to  nature's  God." 

Wherein  Cbristianitv  differs  from  the  religion  of  nature. 

It  refers  us  to  the  attainment  of  a  higher  spnMtual  state. 

This  as  science  and  fact  is  properly  observed  and  noted  in  a 
popidar  education;  but  the  means  of  attainment  lie  within  tlie 
province  of  individual  eflbrt  anil  the  church.  A  science  of  re- 
ligion and  morals  relates  to  the  duties  of  thi>i  h'fe  \  et  iiitroii urrs 
w^  to  the  Spiritual.  These  distinct  otrucs  mark  a  (ii--tint-t  line 
between  a  kingdom  of  nature  ami  a  spiritual  kingdom 

'I'he  unitN'  of  the  moral  nature  lost  who  11  tlie  aullior  ol"  it  — 
when  (jod  is  lost  sight  of.      Sectarianism  excluded  b\-  science. 

Si.c.  n.  Sum  of  1111  .\u  (;r  .Mixr. — 'I'he  gronnd-princi|)le 
not  ill  InKil  eiuls.  but  in  the  sell-evident  diilv  of  nhediruce  to   the 


280         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

moral  consciousness;  in  the  "good-will  " — Kant's  central  figure, 
X\\^  fit  basis  of  moral-science.     The  empiric  not  ignored. 


DIVISION  II.   PRINCIPLES:  PSYCHIC  AND 
MORAL. 

Sec.  12.  The  nature  of  man,  physical,  intellectual,  moral, 
volitional.  The  physical  consists  of  the  bodily  organs.  The  in- 
tellectual includes  the  understanding  faculties  and  the  reason.  The 
function  of  the  understanding.  The  reason  defined — its  offices; 
illustration  from  Cuvier's  application  and  use  of  the  idea.  Rea- 
son as  speculative. 

The  moral  and  the  religious  distinct,  yet  allied.  Their  one- 
ness and  their  difference:  Moral  approbation  and  the  contra. 
The  moral  involves  the  Will. 

Man  a  spirit;  when  called  a  soul.  What  the  soul  is  the 
seat  of  Origin  of  the  name.  The  scripture  division  into  body, 
soul,  spirit. 

Sec.  13.  Moral  Philosophy. — The  study  of  the  moral  na 
ture.  The  moral  nature's  primary  law;  its  second  law.  Illus 
trations:  Suspension  of  law,  or  its  effect;  its  final  certainty 
instances  given.     The  tendency  in  natural  law  and  in  moral  law 

Sec.  14.  Moral  science  an  exhibit  of  principles  and  of  facts 
The  ground -■^r\nc\^\e  is  in  obedience — to  what  ^  The  good  de 
fined;  rt//r/r«o' defined.  /"//<' good  distinguished  from  «  good 
"  The  good  "  in  the  right  state  of  the  soul — in  its  character 
The  good,  a  -priori  and  abstract.  A  good,  concrete.  Illustrated 
by  the  love  of  the  beautiful.  The  highest  good,  in  obedience  to 
the  moral  nature.  The  true  and  truth — their  distinction — the  one 
a  creature  of  the  moral  natiuo;  the  other  of  the  intellect.  Not 
alwa^'s  right  to  insist  on  rights. 

Sec.  15.  Moral  law  determines  and  implies  wliat. — The 
moral  nature  necessary  and  imperative;  the  why.  The  idea  of 
moral  law;  how  rightly  enlarged.  "  Love  me"  in  tiie  first  com- 
mandment means  what  ?  When  this  love  accords  with  the 
moral  nature.  Love  under  abnormal  conditions  not  true  love. 
Why  did  Saul  act  contra  to  the  law  of  his  iiiorai  nature  .'' 


THE    SrXOPSIS.  281 

Sec.  i6.  Written  Moral  Laws. — Authoritative  regulation 
of  moral  conduct.  The  authority  is  in  a  divine  utterance,  or  in 
an  evident  accord  with  the  moral  nature,  or  in  both.  The  wis- 
dom seen  in  the  first  commandment;  the  necessity  lor  its  Divine 
utterance;  hence  its  type  as  universal  law.  Obedience  to  the  mo- 
ral nature  implies  a  will.  General  view  of  the  moral  nature's 
function:  (i)  Its  innate  appetency  and  cognition;  (2)  its  use  01 
the  Reason  to  determine  particular  cases;  (3)  the  Will  in  its 
spontaneity  and  autonomy;  (4)  the  Conscience  with  its  intui- 
tions and  power  for  joy  and  sorrow. 

Origin  of  the  moral: — exists  prior  to  the  perception  of  external 
relations.  Scripture  illustration  as  to  the  moral  nature,  the  con- 
science and  the  contention  of  the  reason.  Intelligent  action; 
Kant's  expression  for  it;  a  philosophic  statement  of  Jesus'  sub- 
lime precept  now  called  the  Golden  Rule;  its  origin  consti- 
tutional. 

Sec.  17.  Religion'  in  the  first  clause  of  the  first  coniniaiul- 
ment.  The  second  clause  assumes  that  religion  is  liable  to  cor- 
ruption. Retrogression  as  well  as  progression  proved  by  history 
and  biography. 

Natural  religion  a  gift  of  nature  —  to  be  cultivated  and  per- 
fected; guided  by  the  moral  nature.  Environments  that  lead  to 
a  supreme  cause.  Man  constituted  through  fear  and  reverence  to 
obey  his  will.  Power,  wisdom,  goodness  in  the  creation. 
Scripture  illustration.     Man  conscious  of  limitations  in  himselt". 

These  two  reverence  and  lo-ce  for  the  true  (before  noticed), 
distinct:  as  religious  and  as  moral  unite  as  a  religious-moral 
element  to  form  character  and  a  habit  of  right  feeling  and  doing. 
Religion  gives  sublimity  to  morality  —  leavens  it  with  right  con- 
ceptions of  the  Creator.  We  thus  transcend  the  realm  of  intem- 
jierance  in  desire,  thought,  imaginations.  First  principles,'  then, 
are  the  foundation  of  a  character  grand,  harmonious,  beaulit'iil. 

Sec.  18.  Focal  points  in  the  logic  of  natural  religion — 

a.  Design : 

1.  In  the  affinities  of  elements. 

2.  In  the  law  of  definite  proportions. 

3.  In  the  use  oi  \\\t  physical  forces. 

4.  In  progression. 

!;.   In  man's  dominion  over  nature. 


282  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

6.  In  prospective  value  as  to  our  globe  and  as  to  man. 

b.  The  sixth  point  suggests  man's  endowments  and  needs. 

c.  The  amplified  moral  law;  the  reciprocity  in  revelation. 

d.  Revelation  of  the  Creator  brings  to  view  a  remedial  dis- 
pensation. 

Sec.  ig.  The  Coxsciexce.  —  Its  joint  action  with  other 
faculties.  It  does  not  discover  objective  truths;  is  sensible  to  the 
intent  of  the  will — its  monitorial  office. 

Mural  hittiition,  when  possible;  example:  The  consciousness 
— its  cognitions. 

Sec.  20.  The  office  and  power  of  the  conscience. — Illustra- 
tions from  Shakespeare;  Mrs.  Montagu  on  Shakespeare's  moral 
purpose  and  insight;  Macbeth's  emotions,  lessons  of  justice  and 
warnings;  Brutus'  soliloquy;  his  genius  [conscience]  in  council 
with  other  forces  in  human  nature.  Courage  in  a  good  cause; 
fear  in  a  bad  one,  illustrated. 

Sec.  2  1.  The  authority  of  conscience;  alone  has  author- 
ity; can  be  regarded  as  a  faculty,  analogous  to  the  faculties  of 
the  understanding;  tendenc}'  to  class  it  with  other  sensibilities; 
it  is  in  a  higher  plane  and  type  oi  heitig;  hence,  the  "imperative." 
Artistic  faculties  akin  to  the  moral  arc  allies,  not  rulers.  The 
lower  sensibiliiies,  neutral  or  else  opposing  forces. 

Sec.  22.  Note  on  Conscience.  —  Involving  the  ground  of 
right.  Approval  or  contra;  from  what — sensibility,  intellect! 
The  facult\'\  why  properly  conscientia. 

Contra  views:  product  of  force;  of  environment;  of  association: 
of  intellect  and  sensibility,  as  President  Porter  argues.  His 
argument  presented  and  controverted. 

Sec.  23.  The  Will. — Its  function,  to  execute  or  not  to.  the 
thoughts,  desires  and  affections  of  the  soul.  These  may  or  may 
not  have  a  moral  element.  Illustration:  George,  his  phnn  and 
pear,  and  his  mother. 

The  Freedom  of  the  Will:  The  difference  in  physical  and  in 
moral  necessity.  The  idea  in  true  freedom.  In  what  way  the 
freedom  of  the  will  is  abridged;  only  by  the  empirical.  The  will 
has  spontaneity  and  autonomy.  \'olitions  ha\e  not  a  time 
relation,  as  effects  from  cause;  but  are  spontaneous,  originating 
in  the  will  itself.  The  will  as  ruled  by  a  sinful  disposition. 
Hain's  Metaphysical  puzzle. 


THE    Sl'NOPSIS.  283 


The  True  Doctrine  of  the  Will:  Its  determinations  do  not 
prove  the  judgments,  but  the  acts  of  the  soul.  The  will  is  in- 
fluenced— not  bound  by  motives.  Action  contra  to  conviction  of 
duty  indicates  moral  weakness — not  moral  inability. 

The  Will  Detined:  The  \\\\\  personal. 

Sec.  24.  Appetites;  Desires;  Affections. — Appetites — 
hunger  and  thirst;  instinctive  and  intelligent  action. 

Desires  are 

1.  Primarv.  as  the  desire  of  property,  power,  knowledge. 

2.  Secondary — diflerence  between  the  primary  and  secondary. 
When  love  is'secondary — examples:  Love  of  gold,  etc.  From 
love  of  the  abstract  we  come  to  love  the  concrete. 

Affections — patrial,  paternal,  filial.  When  affections  become 
sentiments. 

Sec.  25.  Love,  as  of  truth,  the  right,  beauty,  piety,  modesty, 
harmony.  When  called  rational  love.  Love  develops  itself  in 
accord  with  its  object. 

Law  of  Love:  Seeks  the  loveablc.  I  low  is  love  modified  by 
duty?     Love,  not  a  ground-principle  in  morals. 

'■'■Loveoi  God" — When,  right  love.  Its  law — "To  love  with 
all  the  heart."  The  law  as  to  man — "To  love  as  we  love  our- 
selves." Love  for  a  companion — Like  in  kind,  but  not  in  degree, 
to  love  for  God 

I.ofe  oi  Country — .\kin  to  that  of  property,  but  noisier.  Its 
ethic  law:  Values  country  more  than  goods — less  than  moral 
possessions;  instances  of  patriotism;  the  signers  of  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence. 

Love  of  Gold — Its  ethic  law:  No  virtue  in  love:  but  only 
in  surmounting  obstacles  to  a  pure  love.  Concrete  love — no  ground 
of  right;  but  is  incentive  to  right  endeavor.  The  "principle  of 
right"  combines  feeling  and  intelligence;  exists  as  a  moral 
faculty;  gives  rise  to  intuitive  judgments  and  moral  reasonings. 
The  moral  law  applies  the  moral  principle,  and  by  requiring  its 
use  strengthens  it.  "Love  to  God"  required  as  the  great  motive 
power.  How  it  can  be  attained  to.  Must  not  identity  the 
moral  ground-principle  with  "Love  God." 

Sec.  26.  Ski.f-Love,  Instinctive. — Not  from  the  moral 
nature;  relates  to  preservation,  not  to  gratification.  Self-love, 
not  selfishness;  is  a  motive,  a  proper  incentive. 


284         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

Sec.  27.  Love  to  the  Neighbor. — Gioiinded  in  moral  love. 
When  a  moral  necessity;  when  a  virtue  or  an  abnegation  of  self. 
The  scope  of  the  second  great  commandment. 

Sec.  28.  The  Grolxdof  Dltv. —  The  ground  of  duty  is  not 
in  the  definition  of  duty.  The  sense  of  duty  an  inborn  feeling. 
By  "ground  of  duty"  is  meant  what  gi\  es  rise  to  the  idea  of 
dutv.  "Let  each  esteem  others  better  than  himself,"  is  a  fit 
expression  for  the  sense  of  dutj'.  Illustrated  by  Lord  Nelson's 
battle-cry:  "England  expects  that  every  man  this  day  will  do  his 
dutv."  The  ground-principle  in  duty,  like  that  in  gravity,  known 
only  by  its  effects. 

The  tt7/v,  the  //<?tt',  unknown,  except  that  the  Creator  so  willed 
it.  "Love  God":  When  we  do  know  and  when  not,  the  duty  in 
this  commandment.  Its  bearing  on  the  moral  ground-principle. 

Sec.  29.  The  Ground  of  Right.  —  Primarily  is  in  the  Di- 
vine constitution,  not  in  the  "nature  of  things,"  as  some  would 
have  it.     This  distinction  of  importance;  further  evidence. 

Sec.  30  The  Secondary  Ground  is  in  man's  nature.  The 
imperative  ground  is  in  authority  di%  ine,  either  by  rc\elation  or 
by  the  "voice  of  conscience,"  the  general  consciousness  in- 
clusive. 

Sec.  31.  Principles  require  /rrtr/Zr*'.  —  Illustrated  in  the 
science  and  art  of  book-keeping  and  of  gunnerj-.  Facility  in  the 
application  of  principle  necessary  in  morals.  Moral  acts  un- 
guided  bv  principles  are  empiric — give  rise  to  a  one-sided  char- 
acter; hence  contentions  and  persecutions.  Instances  given:  Jew, 
Cientile,  Catholic,  Protestant,  Conformist,  Recusant,  Inconsis- 
tenc}'  of  the  Puritan.  What  of  Roger  Williams.  The  Pilgrim 
Statue — what  it  stands  for. 

Sec.  32.  Pivot  Thoughts  in    The    Principles. —  i,  2,  3. 

4.  5- 

Sec.  33.  The  Metaphysics  of  Morals  explained  and  illus- 
trated. 


PART  II. 

DIVISION   I.  ETHICS. 

Sec.  34.  Ethics  implies  principles;  is  derived  from  them;  has 
its  source  in  man's  moral  nature;  how  elucidated  and  enforced 
by  a  just  idea»of  the  "ground  of  right."  Scripture  ethics:  What 
ought  to  be;  what  ought  not. 

The  moral  lazv  is  shown  in  the  Ten  Commandments;  is  sum- 
marized in  the  two  great  commandments. 

Our  relations  to  God  in  these  hold  the  first  place;  are  first 
enunciated. 

The  first  commandment  shows  the  authority  in  the  decalogue, 
"  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God."  The  sovereignty  of  God  selt"-evident; 
how  enforced. 

The  second  commandment  prohibits  idolatry.  True  worship 
spiritual.  What  is  not  true  worship;  what  is;  love  and  obedi- 
ence requisite. 

Sec.  3v  Stringent  Laws;  Necessity  Therefor. — Ob- 
jections thereto:  The  third  commandment;  when  violated; 
special  instances. 

The  fourth  and  fifth  commandments  are  discussed  under  the 
heads  Sabbath  and  Filial  duty. 

W'hy  the  first  three  commandments  are  entitled  to  our  special 
consideration. 

Sec  36.  The  Be.\titides. — General  view:  The  decalogue, 
a  summary  of  duties.  The  Beatitudes,  a  stateme"!  ol  moral  pre- 
cepts.    They  are  sentiments  of  universal  acceptance;  the  reason. 

The  ethic  character  in  the  Beatitude  is  in  the  reasons  and  the 
results — not  for  the  sake  of  them.  The  result  is  purely  moral; 
tends  to  moral  perfection.  Cause  and  effect  in  moral  relation; 
belongs  to  moral  science. 

The  First  Beatitude  pronounces  a  blessing  upon  "  the  poor  in 
spirit;"  the  reason.    The  meaning  of  the  phrase  "  poor  in  spirit." 

2SS 


286  MORAL  AXD  RELKifOUS  SCIENCE. 

Scripture  requirements  for  entrance  into  heaven.  The  character 
of  the  Scribe  and  Pharisee;  of  the  PubHcan. 

The  Second  Beatitude:  What  we  mourn;  the  effect.  Where- 
in the  blessedness  is  found;   King  David's  prayer. 

The  Third  Beatitude:  The  meek  man  intrepid  and  brave;  but 
is  not  ready  to  take  oftense.  With  clear  notions  of  duty  is  fitted 
for  a  leader,  like  Moses. 

The  Fourth  Beatitude:  Its  definition.  Its  principle  is  in  the 
"  love  of  righteousness."     Scripture  proof-texts. 

No  ethic  character  in  mere  formal  righteousness.  "  Mercy 
better  than  sacrifice."  1  he  blessing  is  for  those  that  "  hunger 
and  thirst  after  righteousness."  A  strong  figure,  indicating  a 
high  standard.     The  duty  of  man  is  to  attain  to  it. 

The  E''ifth  Beatitude:  "  The  mercitul  obtain  mercy."  The 
Divine  displeasure  against  those  w  ho  lack  in  mercy.  Shylock's 
compulsory  mercy.     "Tlie  ciualit\'  of  mercy  is  not  strained." 

The  Sixth  Beatitude:  "  The  pure  in  heart  see  God."  What 
it  is  to  see  God;  the  good  efiect. 

The  Seventh  Beatitude:  Peace -makers  the  children  of  God. 
"  How  beautiful  upon  the  mountains."  The  peace  society, 
the  peace  congress  may  also  rank  as  ministering  children  of  God. 

The  Eighth  Beatitude:  '*  The  persecuted  for  righteousness' 
sake."  The  characteristic  of  tlie  unrighteous.  The  right  atti- 
tude of  the  soul  under  persecution.  Scripture  proof-texts.  Con- 
tra to  this  was  the  old  rule,  "  a  tooth  tor  a  tooth."  The  ethic 
relation  not  well  understood  in  those  days.  Progress  in  ethic 
views  argues  not  change  in  principle.  The  highest  end  or  chief- 
good  of  man  is  to  discover  and  appropriate  the  true  content  of 
what  is  right  and  good.  The  closing  injunction  of  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount. 

Sec.  37.  The  Virtues. — General  View:  Virtue  universally 
praised.  Vice  reproved — e\cn  by  the  non-virtuous.  They  know 
the  better,  yet  pursue  the  worse.  Scripture  injunctions.  Proof 
that  virtue  is  natural  to  man.  St.  Paul  asserts  it  in  naming 
Christian  virtues.  The  cardinal  virtues  of  the  ancients.  \'irtue 
defined.  What  Tully  says  about  a  virtuous  man.  The  loveliest 
virtues  seen  in  doing  good.  The  laudable  virtues;  the  popular 
virtues;  the  ornaments  of  virtue.  Virtue  and  decency  very  closely 
related. 


THE   STNOPSTS.  287 


Ii/diistrv  Defined:  When  a  \  irtue.  The  vice  of  idleness;  ex- 
amples. Graphic  scripture  instances  of  the  eftects  of  idleness. 
Industry  and  independence;  the  type  of  industry. 

Frugaliix:  Akin  to  industry.  Poverty  no  proof  of  frugality. 
What  people  are  not  frugal.  Youtli  should  be  trained  in  fru- 
gality and  economy.  Frugality  as  related  to  liberality.  The 
miser  personifies  the  abuse  of  frugality;  his  epitaph. 

Economy:  Related  to  frugality.  Its  wider  meaning.  Hannah 
Moore  on  Econoiny.  Economy  not  a  vulgar  attainment;  not 
the  detail  of  pett_y  expenses;  not  parsimonj'.  Economy  is  in  the 
order,  arrangement  and  distribution  of  affairs — is  in  a  well  con- 
nected plan,  A  sound  economy  is  calculation  realized;  it  is 
being  prepared  for  contingencies. 

Prudence:  A  common  caution;  means  what.  Webster's 
definition;  scripture  illustrations.  Plans  of  life,  as  prudent  or 
as  imprudent.  Does  bad  fortune  presuppose  imprudence  .'  The 
Scottish  bard's  fine  version  of  it.  Accidents  and  providences. 
Kant  insists  that  natural  causes  and  providential  are  in  unison. 
The  Spaniards  credited  the  loss  of  the  ''invincible  Armada"  to 
the  storm — not  to  British  valor.  Qiieen  Elizabeth  turned  this 
slurring  point  thus:  "  Afflavit  Deus,  etdissipantur." 

Prudence  for  Girls  [Afaria  Edge-MOrth\.  Girls  need  to  be 
taught  caution  more  than  boys.  Must  trust  to  what  they  arc 
taught — not  to  experiment.  What  ought  to  be  and  what  is  not 
always  conjoined.  Material  mistakes  cannot  be  rectified.  Timid- 
ity and  pausing  prudence  characterize  female  virtue.  Advice 
valued  at  "  a  purse  of  gold."  Modern  culture  and  native  pru- 
dence— a  picture  of  beaut\-. 

Self-control :  What  it  means.  Under  provocation  to  anger  it 
is  a  virtue.  Scripture  proof- texts;  illustrations.  \'irtue  is  pos- 
sible only  with  control  of  the  appetites  and  passions.  Self-con- 
trol cements  the  foundations  of  virtue. 

Purity — Continency:  Hearthstone  virtues,  that  stand  for 
prosperity  and  happiness. 

Praise  tor  the  Roman  matron  indicates  Roman  sentiment,  and 
a  universal  sentiment  for  virtue. 

Impurity  antagonizes  all  law.  As  a  habit  it  destroys  all  good. 
Eras  of  profligacy;  the  eftect  from  corrupt  leaders  and  rulers. 

Continency:    A  law  of  nature.     In  man,  the  habit  of  it  estab- 


288  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIEXCE. 


lished  bv  reason,  b}'  common  sense,  and  bv  the  categorical-im- 
perative of  the  moral  nature. 

Sincerity  and  Simplicity :  Sincerity  is  honesty  conjoined 
Avitli  knowledge;  simplicity  is  artlessness;  characterizes  the 
child.  Fine  illustrations  in  scripture.  Nathanael  without  guile; 
contra:  Jacob  noted  for  his  wiles.     What  of  Esau  ? 

Simplicity  and  sincerity  are  niturai  qualities,  admired  by  all 
men;  hence  as  moral,  they  have  a  universal  character.  Sim- 
plicity of  style  holds  the  attention  when  ornament  tires.  From 
the  simple  to  the  sublime  in  moral  sentiment  is  natural.  Scripture 
illustration:   "  Consider  the  li  ies.  " 

Charity  is  love  in  a  wide  sense.  Further  elucidation  and 
illustration.  The  meaning,  use  and  praise  of  charity  in  script- 
ure sentiments  as  expressed  in  I  Corinthians,  ch.  13.  C/iaritv 
the  greatest  of  the  virtues. 

Sec.  38.  The  Sentiments. — Patriotism :  '•  This  is  my  own, 
my  native  land!"  History  aft'ords  noted  instances.  It  is  best  to  re- 
call those  of  our  own  land.  Devotion  to  the  principle  of  liberty 
in  the  struggle  for  American  independence.  What  Daniel  Web- 
ster said.  The  voice  of  Otis  and  of  Adams  in  Faneuil  Hall. 
The  fire  of  patriotism  in  the  small  assemblies  of  the  towns. 
Men  of  wise  counsel  and  heroic  deeds;  and  Robert  Morris  with 
the  "  sinews  of  war."  The  ethic  character  of  patriotism.  A 
sentiment  inspired  by  the  moral  principle  of  dutv.  Were 
Leonidas  and  his  three  hundred  Spartan -band  patriotic  .'  The 
negative  invalid.     The  abuse  of  the  sentiment  ot  patriotism. 

Friends/lip  Defined:  True  friendship  compatible  only  with 
virtue.  Friendship  in  various  degrees.  The  friendship  of  Da- 
mon and  Pythias;  of  David  and  Jonathan.  Of  that  between 
Christ  and  his  disciples.  The  characteristic  of  friendship  as 
given  by  the  Lord  Jesus.     Pollok's  fine  lines  on  Friendship. 

T/ir  Ethics  of  Friendship:  Duty  in  friendship  aptly  defined. 
"  A  friend  sticketh  closer  than  a  brother."  How  to  treat  a 
friend  under  all  circumstances.  Misplaced  friendship  in  political 
affairs.  Qiieen  Elizabeth  had  favorites  contra  to  the  public 
weal.     Washington  regarded  only  fitness  for  office. 

Honor,  defined  by  Webster,  Wordsworth,  Pope.  How  honor 
is  affected  by  "condition."  The  point  of  honor  with  a  king, 
soldier,  statesman,  merchant.     Sir  Walter  Scott  instanced. 


THE    SYNOPSIS.  289 

DIVISION  II.    DUTY;  DUTIES. 

Sec.  39.  Duty  defined;  illustrated  bv  the  good  Samaritan. 
The  priest  and  the  Le\  ite  dead  to  humanity  and  religion.  Duty 
the  element  in  all  moral  relation;  civil  inclusive. 

Sec.   40.    Duties  TO  God. — Obedience;   scripture  texts. 

Prayer  a  Duty:  Its  source  the  outflow  of  the  heedv  soul. 
The  form  given  by  the  Lord  Jesus;  his  habit  of  prayer.  Noted 
instances  of  prayer;  Solomon,  Daniel.  The  men  of  praj-er. 
To  inquire  for  the  profit  of  prayer  is  contra  to  good  sense. 

Praise:   Fine  scripture  passages  enforcing  it.    Argument  for  it. 

Honest  endeavor  and  wisdom  requisite  for  true  v:orship.  All 
things  declare  God  is  one. 

Love  for  God  as  a  Duty:  Not  possible  to  see  it  and  feel  it, 
save  in  view  of  his  true  characteristics,  as  loving,  just,  holy, 
hating  iniquity.  Obedience  antedates  and  proves  love  the 
crowning  duty.  First  in  time  and  value  are  duties  to  God.  Soul 
elements  intensified  by  science  and  the  sublime  in  nature.  Fine 
passages  descriptive  of  Jehovah's  characteristics. 

Faith:  Its  definition;  scripture  examples;  its  origin:  faith  and 
obedience  inseparable;  is  the  foundation  of  the  visions  of  hope. 

Hope-  Defined;  leads  to  a  pure  life;  its  grounds,  objects,  ori- 
gin, primarily  of  the  soul— has  reason  in  it;  gives  courage  and 
safety;  presupposes  faith. 

The  ethics  of  faith  and  hope. 

Duties  to  man  run  parallel.  A  kind  soul  may  love  his  neigh- 
bor prior  to  love  to  God.  A  selfish  soul  can  be  corrected  only 
by  conviction  of  duty  to  God.  Duties  to  men  are  how  seen. 
Tlie  whole  duty  of  man:  "Fear  God  and  keep  his  command- 
ments." 

Sec.  41.  Individual  Duties. —  i.  Self-preservation,  a 
natural  instinct.     Man's  duty  is  to  use  intelligence. 

2.  Health,  its  preservation  a  duty;  why  early  hours  condu- 
cive to  health. 

3.  SelJ-examination  requires  moral  courage.  Its  use;  scrip- 
ture proof-text.  To  err  is  human;  to  admit  it  is  manly — even 
divinely- human.     Make  good  resolves  and  keep  them. 

4.  Labor:  Dignity  and  duty  in  it— when.  Is  irksome  to  the 
lover  of  pleasure.     When  was  labor  ennobled;  scripture  proor- 


290         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

text.  The  farm  and  the  garden.  The  scripture  promise  as  to 
"  seed  time  and  harvest."  Labor  exercises  the  bodily  organs. 
Nothing  needful  produced  without  it.  Juvenal's  sound  maxim 
applies  to  the  moral  as  well  as  to  the  mental.  Walter  Scott's 
advice  to  his  son  as  to  labor.  Carlyle  on  work;  its  blessedness; 
transforms  the  stagnant  swamp  into  a  meadow,  with  clear- 
flowing  stream. 

5.  0?ie's  Vocation  •  The  ethic  of  it.  When  in  accord  with 
moral  law;  when  contra.  Consider  well  the  moral  tendency  of 
)our  vocation. 

6.  Tlie  Ethic  of  Habit-  The  perfect  in  rhorality  need  not  the 
aid  of  liahit ;  but  a  "  habit  of  virtue  "  helps  to  resist  temptation. 
The  focal  ethic  character  in  our  habits;  "Watch  ye."  Pope's 
"  Vice  is  a  monster."     Mallet's  "  Crimes  lead  to  crimes  " 

7.  Tejiiperance  •  "  How  blest  the  sparing  meal."  Temperance 
is  suited  to  all  persons,  times  and  places;  is  better  than  Saratoga. 
The  animal  limited  by  its  nature;  man,  by  his  discretion.  Tem- 
perance promotes  longevity  and  thrift;  is  the  sine  qua  71011  of  a 
character  acceptable.  Paul  reasoned  of  temperance;  Felix 
trembled. 

8.  The  Temper:  Its  ethic  character.  Duty  requires  us  to 
govern  it.     A  bad  temper  and  love  incompatible. 

9.  Religion  is  natural  to  man,  hence  there  is  duty  in  it;  needs 
to  be  kept  in  repair,  like  one's  house;  and  taxes  paid.  Ought  to 
discover  true  religion.  Necessary;  universal  principles  lead  the 
wav.  Obedience  to  intuitive  truth  in  the  commandments.  Study 
nature;  search  the  scriptures.  The  ethic  of  religion  regards 
duty  to  self,  to  society,  to  state. 

10.  Time:  The  ethic  of  /7.«  ?/.?^.  Two  views;  y?<rt//7y  of  work; 
diligence.  "Trust  little  to  the  morrow." — Horace.  "Procrasti- 
nation is  the  thief  of  time  " — Toung.  "  We  complain  that  time 
is  short,  yet  know  not  what  to  do  with  it." — Setieca. 

The  Remedy:  (i)  Help  the  needy;  comfort  the  afflicted;  (2) 
live  under  an  habitual  sense  of  the  Divine  presence. 

11.  Observation:  The  ethic  of  it.  Duty  is  to  observe  what 
will  be  useful.  Waste  no  time  on  the  frivolous.  Our  range  of 
observation  depends  largely  on  our  vocation.  The  king  as 
statesman  and  the  prince  as  charioteer.  Observe  the  events  and 
signs  of  the  times. 


THE    SYNOPSIS.  291 

12.  The  Ethic  of  Taste  and  Culture:  The  study  of  the  fine 
arts  and  of  poHte-literature  has  a  humanizing  eftect.  A  relish 
therefor  is  a  source  of  innocent  diversion.  The  pith  of  what  Dr. 
Blair  says — (i)  The  powers  of  taste  and  imagination  were  given 
to  embellish  the  mind;  (2)  their  province  is  beauty,  harmony, 
grandeur,  elegance;  (3)  they  exercise  the  reason  without  fa- 
tiguing it;  (4)  they  strew  flowers  in  the  path  of  science;  (5)  the 
cultivation  of  taste  has  a  happy  effect  on  the  life;  (6)  employs 
intervals  of  time  in  a  way  suited  to  the  dignity  of  man;  (7)  its 
ethic  character  is  in  its  being  favorable  to  many  virtues. 

13.  Decision  of  character  means  a  readiness  to  determine 
what  to  do;  depends  on  the  energy  of  the  will.  Napoleon  I  had 
instant  and  habitual  decision;  that  is,  he  had  decision  of  charac- 
ter. In  George  Washington,  decision  was  fortified  by  "  the  mo- 
ral." Herein  is  decision  of  character  fruitful  of  good.  In  the 
young  man,  it  marks  ability  to  resist  the  allurements  to  vice. 

The  Ethic  of  Decision:  It  contributes  to  vigor  of  effort.  The 
contra  predicted  of  Reuben  by  his  father  Jacob.  "  Unstable  as 
water,  thou  shalt  not  excel."  It  intimidates  malice  disposed  to 
attack. 

14.  Discipline:  ''  Do  well  what  you  do"  is  the  primal  maxim 
in  mental,  military  and  all  discipline.  Napoleon  I  exacting; 
tolerated  nothing  unsoldierlike.  Do  one  thing  at  a  time;  a  plan 
of  work.  "Make  hay  while  the  sun  shines."  "  There  is  a  tide 
in  the  affairs  of  men."  Non-discipline  by  our  wits  results  in  dis- 
cipline by  misfortune. 

Sec.  42.  Parental  Dlties.  —  Authority  with  love.  The 
old  Roman  law  contra  to  nature.  Inunction  of  civil  law.  When 
the  parent  will  exceed  his  right.  Be  firm  yet  mild.  The  rights 
of  children.  The  virtue  of  patience.  Scripture  summary  of 
parental  and  filial  duty.  The  duty  of  guarding  against  bad 
habits.  "Evil  communications  corrupt  good  manners."  Juvenal's 
advice. 

Sec.  43.  Social  Duties. — General  view.  How  social  duties 
arise.  Equalities  and  diversities  in  rights  and  duties.  The 
affections  natural  that  pertain  to  social  duties.  When  they  show 
virtue;  when  not. 

Philanthropy  and  Benevolence :  Whv  we  do  or  do  not 
possess  them.     Not   happy  without   them — hence  duty.     Apos- 


292  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

trophe  to  philanthropy.  Philanthropy  and  benevolence  outraged 
bv  brutal  shows. 

Hospitality  Defined:  A  sentiment  native  to  the  heart  of 
humanity.  Atrocious  exceptions  severely  punished.  Mungo 
Park  and  the  hospitable  negro  woman.  Queen  Dido's  words  of  wel- 
come to  ^neas.  The  Indian's  "What  Cheer?"  in  salutation  to 
Roger  Williams. 

Sec.  44.  The  Ethic  of  Amusements. — Children's  play  and 
the  games  of  youth  prove  what.  How  beneficial.  The  desire  to 
excel,  when  innocent.  When  good  morals  and  amusement  part 
company.  Wherein  is  the  ethic  character,  in  limitation,  in  self- 
denial.  Like  principle  applies  to  temperance  in  drinks.  No 
amusement  in  what  harms  somebody.  The  well-known  fable  of 
the  boys  and  the  frogs  shows  the  abuse  of  am"usement. 

''Love  not  the  world,"  means  that  the  "love  of  the  world" 
must  be  subject  to  duty.  The  conclusion — Each  one  to  studj*  duty 
as  to  amusement. 


DIVISION  III.     POLITICAL  ETHICS. 

Sec.  41;.  Political  Ethics  relate  to  moral  questions  in  the 
conduct  of  public  aftairs.  Citations  as  to  land  titles  and  limita- 
tions. Protection  in  rights.  Qualifications  and  term  of  office. 
The  elective  franchise.  International  law.  How  best  to  secure 
international  good  will. 

Mrs.  Barbauld  on  Political  Ethics:  The  people  through  its 
agents  enact  laws;  make  war  and  peace;  dispose  of  public  money, 
and  are  answerable  for  these  acts;  especially  for  oppressive  laws 
and  bad  government  that  crush  the  poor.  Distinction  between  a 
mild  climate  and  a  mild  government.  The  first  a  Providential 
favor,  the  second  a  National  duty.  The  indolent  lose  a  good 
government.     Dutj- is  to  keep  it. 

Liberty. — Its  substance  consists  in  guarantees.  National 
liberty  is  freedom  from  foreign  power.  Autotiomy,  the  Greeks 
called  it.  No  foreigner  must  dictate.  Instances  of  interference. 
Turkey  has  not  autonomy.  Our  own  autonomy  endangered,  if 
we  meddle  in  foreign  affairs.     Washington's  opinion  and  advice. 


THE    SYNOPSIS.  293 


Institutions   promote  liberty;    are  not  the  essence  of  it.      Tlie 
essence  of  liberty  is  in  a  man's  character. 

Magna  Charta — by  whom  granted;  its  place  in  the  British 
constitution.  The  constitutional  principle  of  taxation.  Articles 
of  the  "Great  Charter."  '•Nullus  liber  homo  capiatur"  the  im- 
portant one. 

Sec.  47.  Religiocs  Liberty. — Conscience-worship  must  be 
moral — separation  of  Church  and  State — on  concrete  grounds. 
Relations  between  Church  and  State — moral.    Reasons  therefor. 

Religion  and  the  freedom  of  the  soul.  Libert}-  and  obedience  to 
the  law  of  right.  True  religion  tends  to  liberty.  Scripture  proof- 
texts.  The  law  of  liberty — what  is  it;  what  does  it.  This  law  is 
universal — applies  to  all  men.  Libert}-  is  conditioned  on  the  law 
of  liberty.  Wherein  the  law  of  liberty  exists.  A  man  destitute 
of  it  is  not  qualified  to  determine  institutions  and  limitations  of 
libert}'. 

Sec.  4S.  Persoxal  Liberty. — Must  not  stand  in  another's 
sunshine.  Illustrations  by  what  is  forbidden.  Throwing  stones; 
bad  literature;  vagrancy;  ''Idleness  the  mother  of  vice." 

Sec.  49.  Rights. — ^General  view:  The  right,  a  moral  idea 
from  the  moral  nature.  All  men  predicate  their  acts  on  the 
right.  In  the  light  of  the  right  is  seen  a  right.  Examples  of 
conflicting  rights.  Rights  in  revolutionary  times;  in  the  Sa- 
moan-embroglio.  The  need  of  the  judiciary  to  determine 
rights. 

A  right — Something  in  accord  with  man's  entire  nature. 
What  rights  all  men  have.  What  constitute  natural  rights. 
Rights  and  duties  correlative,  reciprocal — the  diflerence.  Some 
rights  intuitively  seen;  other  rights  require  wisdom  and  judg- 
ment. Right  and  duty  different — a  right  is  something  claimed; 
a  duty  is  nothing  claimed,  but  is  something  that  ought  to  be 
done.  Duty  has  the  pre-eminence  over  rights.  Mutual  obli- 
gation— wherein  is  it. 

Sec.  50.  Property  Rights. — General  view:  What  nature 
makes  common  to  all — what  not.  The  improvident  have  not 
the  same  rights  as  the  diligent.  Personals  acquired  by  work; 
land,  b}'  occupation  and  labor.  Man  has  a  right  to  property' 
fairlv  acquired.  How  I  shall  recover  property  wrested  from  me 
contra  to  law.     When  property  reverts  to  the  State. 


294         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

Sec.  51.  Origin  of  Right  to  Property. — The  Divine 
grant  in  Genesis  I.  Man  put  into  the  Garden  of  Eden  to  dress 
it.  to  keep  it.  Outline  of  title  given  by  the  Creator.  Particular 
cases  of  title  determined  by  man's  nature.  Property  rights  follow 
nature's  tendencies — examples:  Abraham's  purchase — the  object, 
the  price.  The  first  land  purchase  on  record.  The  title  of  Eph- 
ron,  the  grantor.  What  made  it  good.  Queen  Dido's  purchase  of 
a  "hide  of  land." 

Sec.  52.  Land  Title  ix  the  United  States. — The  right 
and  title  of  the  North  American  Indians.  Bought  by  Colonial 
and  United  States  Government.  Held  in  trust  for  the  people. 
Surveyed  into  townships,  sections  and  quarter-sections.  Sold 
for  benefit  of  and  by  the  will  of  the  people. 

Methods  of  Sale:  Railroad  grants;  bounty  lands,  and  home- 
steads. All  legitimate  and  title  perfec*.  Mineral  lands.  Timber 
and  farm  lands.  Toil  and  labor  stamp  property  as  a  man's 
own.  Land  monopolies  in  the  United  States.  The  moral  and 
economical  aspect.  Hostile  legislation  is  robbery.  "Covet 
not." 

Sec.  153.  Blackstone  on  Property  Rights. — Communion 
of  goods  applies  not  to  their  use.  The  act  of  possession  gives 
right  of  possession..    This  rule  applies  to  lands  or  to  fruits. 

Cicero's  illustration.  Increase  acquires  title  to  substance  as 
well  as  to  use.  Civilization  devises  habitation  and  things  con- 
venient. Even  the  bird  and  the  beast  fight  for  their  nest  or 
lair.  Movables  and  dwellings  appropriated  before  land.  Prop- 
ertv  in  flocks  and  herds;  in  well-water. 

Isaac's  reclamation  of  his  father's  well.  Agriculture  estab- 
lishes property  in  the  soil,  this  distinguishes  ennobled  humanity 
from  the  savage,  gives  leisure  for  art  and  science.  Occupancy 
gave  the  original  right.     It  excludes  all  save  the  owner. 

Sec.  54.  Civil  Liuerty. — General  \'icw:  It  protects  the 
citizen  —  this  imposes  a  counter  obligation.  Frjm  what  civil 
liberty  arises — what  it  means. 

Civil  Rights:  Some  of  them  named.  A  man's  house  his 
refuge.  Warrants.  The  "habeas  corpus."  Trial  by  jury.  Liberty 
of  speech.  Right  of  petition.     Free  locomotion. 

Sec.  55.  Civil  Duties  include  and  require  what.  Who  can 
perform  them. 


THE   SYNOPSIS.  295 


Reciprocal  Rights  and  Duties:  The  State  to  do  what  the 
citizen  cannot  do.  What  is  required  to  distinguish  between 
duties,  private  and  public. 

Sec.  56.  Obedience  to  Law. — Man  and  nature  under  it. 
Law  everywhere.  The  necessity  for  obedience  —  principle. 
What  to  do  if  the  law  be  wrong;  if  contra  to  conscience. 

Sec.  57.  The  Duty  of  Interest  in  Civil  Affairs. — 
Everybody,  nobody.  What  the  citizen  should  do;  why.  All 
entrusted  with  one  talent;  some  with  ten.  These  foremost  men 
serve  for  honor  rather  than  for  profit.  James  Otis  as  an  example. 
The  "writs  of  assistance."  What  he  foresaw  in  the  collection  of 
duties  without  the  consent  of  the  Colonists. 

Sec.  58.  Suffrage. — Not  a  natural  right.  On  what  it  should 
depend.  The  ethic  principle  in  it.  The  man  without  fitness  has 
no  claim  to  suftrage.  Universal  suffrage  in  the  United  States. 
J.  S.  Mill's  view. 

Sec.  i;9.  Liberty  of  speech  is  a  liberty  in  the  realm  of 
morals;  rights  of  another  kind.  When  the  ethic  in  free  speech  is 
attained  to.  When  not  right  to  speak  against  a  wrong.  Judge 
Tuley's  opinion  in  the  Anarchist  suit.  His  only  question  is: 
"Are  the  objects  of  the  Anarchist  society  lawful.'"'  If  so,  they 
have  a  right  to  discuss  what  they  please.  As  to  this  opinion — 
the  premise  admitted,  the  conclusion  follows.  Shall  we  judge 
their  objects  by  their  '"by-laws,"  or  by  their  acts.  Fair  words 
for  liberty;  principles  that  undermine  it.  The  wooden  horse  and 
the  disguised  fraud — "Hay market"  and  dynamite.  The  captive 
trumpeter  that  never  did  any  harm.  Is  there  a  correct  theory 
of  free  speech.'  When  the  right  of  free  speech  is  lost.  Lib- 
erty of  speech  not  one-sided — ].  S.  Mill  on  free  speech. 

Sec.  60.  Leo  XIII  on  "Liberty  of  Speech  and  the  Press" 
(sound). 

Sec.  61.  Ver.\city. — Homer's  sentiment.  Truth  by  nature 
perverted  bv  temptation.  Moral  truth  and  fact  contrasted — 
the  "man  in  the  moon."  What  duty  requires;  the  habitual  liar; 
evil  effects;    "wolf,  wolf!  "     Scripture  precepts. 

Legislation  as  to  the  Oath:  The  common  swearer.  Wise 
legislation.  Limitations  of  Jesus  in  the  use  of  the  oath — their 
object;  argue  what  tendency. 

Deep  philosophy  and  a  true  ideal   in  the  injunction    "Swear 


29G  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

not  at  all."  Why  so.  How  men  should  be  educated  as  to 
truth.     '•!  cannot  tell  a  lie."' 

Jesus  aimed  at  universal  laws  to  develop  man.  Like  Moses, 
allows  something,  pro  tempore,  for  the  hardness  of  men's  hearts. 
The  usual  moralist  view  of  the  oath. 

Honesty:     What  pure  honesty  is. 

Deceit:  Its  various  forms;  when  wrong — when  right  to  de- 
ceive an  enemy;  instances  cited;  the  ethic  principle;  does  it  ap- 
ply to  highwaymen  and  burglars? 

Casuistry:  Its  definition;  the  duty  of  the  parent  and  the 
teacher  to  fit  the  child  for  self-casuistry- ;  the  Jesuists  as  casuists; 
the  enlightened  conscience  the  best  casuist. 

The  ethic  in  casuistry. 

Sec.  62.  Reputation. — The  value  of  a  good  name.  The  mo- 
tives for  its  injury.  Sensible  people  and  idle  tales.  The  mean- 
ness of  the  traducer. 


DIVISION   IV.     INSTITUTIONS. 

Sec.  63.  Institutions  numerous;  those  of  nature;  those  log- 
ically derived,  and  artificial  ones.  Chief  are  those  of  marriage 
and  the  Sabbath  of  Divine  appointment.  The  character  of  an  in- 
stitution is  in  its  moral  tendency.  Duty  is  in  the  individual 
members,  who  are  moral  or  immoral  in  accord  with  the  tendency 
of  the  institution.  Mormonism  not  moral,  because  it  violates  na- 
ture. The  church  moral  when  it  teaches  a  true  religion.  Per- 
secutors are  criminal. 

The  Moral  Tendency  of  Societies:  The  proper  function  of 
the  Board  of  Trade — when  violated.  Responsibility  of  its  mem- 
bership. The  citizen  and  the  saloon.  The  theatre — in  some  degree 
health v  ;  in  large  part  corrupt.  The  province  of  the  public 
school  and  when  it  fills  its  function.  The  responsibility  of  the 
citizen  in  regard  to  it. 

Sec.  64.  Institutions,  as  to  the  Idea. — As  defined  in 
Leiber's  "Ci\il  Liberty."  Single  laws  or  usages  are  called  insti- 
tions  when  they  have  importance  and  permanency.  Why  mar- 
riage is  an  institution.  A  group  of  laws  and  usages  furnish  an 
elementary  idea.    What  idea  makes  the  "school  "  an   institution 


THE    SYNOPSIS.  297 


in  Gernianv — the  armj' also.  Dr.  Arnold's  idea  of  the  institution; 
Leiber's  criticism  of  Arnold  not  forcible. 

Sec.  65.  Institutions,  Natural,  Logical,  Artificial. — 
The  conjugal  relation  natural.  The  Sabbath  natural  and  log- 
ical. The  state — when  natural,  when  logical — and  is  artificial 
when  the  proper  idea  of  a  state  is  not  in  its  institutions.  Union 
of  church  and  state  an  instance  of  the  artificial.  The  meaning 
of  this  union.  Origin  of  the  estates  of  the  realm  in  England. 
Third  estate  represented  by  the  clergy — illogical  inference.  The 
artificial  third  estate.  Example  in  Henry  VIII,  in  Charles  I 
and  James  II.  Education  natural — wherein.  The  ethic  of  the 
public  school  ;  its  features  as  logical  defined  as  in  accord  with  its 
true  idea. 

Sec.  66.  The  Sabb.\th. — Every  law  of  the  moral  code  of 
high  value,  that  of  the  Sabbath  inclusive.  Men  are  too  prone  to 
lightly  esteem  it.  Experience  shows  cessation  from  toil  neces- 
sary. Inquiries  made  in  1^32  by  the  English  Parliament.  In 
1872  and  later  Sunday  work  discussed  in  Germany.  Should  con- 
ditions of  life  obtain  that  prevent  due  observance  of  Sabbath. 
The  authoritative  law  in  the  Bible  narrative  of  the  Creation. 
Why  blest  as  a  daj-  of  rest  and  made  holy.  The  Divine  compla- 
cence in  a  review  of  his  work.  "  How  still  the  morning  of  the 
hallowed  day !" 

Sec.  67.  Reasons  for  a  Sabbath-day  Institution. — 
God  rested  ;  blessed  ;  sanctified.  The  Sabbath  a  universal  law — 
primarily  observed  by  all  people.  T\\e' occasion  for  the  formal 
institution  of  the  Jewish  sabbath.  The  double  supply  of  manna 
on  the  sixth  day — none  on  the  seventh.  The  seventh  day  relative 
— not  absolute  time.  How^  the  Salibath  institution  had  been 
vitiated.    "The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man." 

Sec.  68.  The  Time  of  Rest. — The  Divine  wisdom  in  this  su- 
perior to  man's.  The  tenth  day  in  the  time  of  the  French  revo- 
lution. Why  an  individual  cannot  fix  on  his  own  Sabbath  day. 
Government  under  obligation  to  notice  the  Sabbath.  The 
essential  element  of  the  Sabbath  day.  The  day  of  rest  being  de- 
termined, six  days  of  labor  follow.  In  Algeria,  Sabbath  days  ex- 
ceptional as  to  time.  The  particular  application  of  the  universal 
law  varies  with  the  environment.  The  mission  of  Israel  to 
uphold    the    worship    of   the    true    God.    Exact  and  strict  laws 


298         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIEXCE. 

necessary  for  this  stiff'- necked  race  ;  hence   the   special   Sabbath 
laws  in  Exodus  34  :  21,  and  35  :  2,  3. 

Sec.  69.  A  Habit  of  Obedience  Formed:  The  spirit  of  the 
law  was  changed  from  a  compulsory,  formal  character  to  a 
voluntary  and  a  joyful  one  ;  from  an  enlightened  view  and  a 
truer  appreciation  of  the  requirements  and  the  blessings  of  the 
Sabbath.  The  moral  and  religious  nature  as  able  to  cast  oft"  the 
leading-strings  of  positive  law  and  enjoy  moral  freedom.  The 
prophet  Isaiah  would  infuse  a  spiritual  element  into  the  cere- 
monial and  formal  in  Jewish  worship.  '•  Bring  no  more  vain 
oblations."'  (Isaiah  i  :  11.)  Characterizes  the  Sabbath  as  a  de- 
light, holy,  honorable  ;  and  in  words  of  beauty  and  the  sublime 
recites   the   blessings    flowing  from  its  due  observance.     (Isaiah 

5S  :  i;„   I4-) 

Sec.  70.  True  Sabbath  Observance. — Not  lugubrious, 
but  a  delight  to  the  soul. 

The  Sabbatk  la-v  yet  more  flexible  in  the  ministry  of  Jesus. 
His  interpretation  of  it.  No  abrogation  of  Sabbath  law  ;  Jesus 
came  "  not  to  annul."  Elasticity  not  to  be  construed  into  license. 
Scripture  texts  showing  obligations.  Warnings  to  our  degener- 
ate day.  Little  Miss  Winterbotham's  exclamation.  The  right 
use — not  the  abuse  of  the  Sabbath — profits  all. 

Sec.  71.  Summary  of  the  Sabbath  Institltiox. — The 
Creator,  by  constitutional  law.  set  apart  the  seventh  day.  The 
fourth  commandment  reminds  of  what  ought  and  ought  not  to 
be  done.  The  positive  and  special  requirements  show  that  the 
law  had  fallen  into  neglect.  Severe  penalties  necessary  to  induce 
a  habit  of  obedience.  The  pure  obedience  aimed  at  comes 
through  rough  discipline. 

As  to  Time:  The  original  Sabbath  had  been  lost  sight  of.  The 
Creator  now  institutes  a  new  series  of  days  in  accord  with  the 
means  to  save  the  people  from  famine.  In  like  manner  the  res- 
urrection of  Jesus,  with  the  attendant  events,  was  ground  for  a 
new  series — the  first  day  being  the  Sabbath.  Recapitulation  of 
sabbatical  eras.  Man's  wisdom  no  warrant  for  change,  save  bj' 
Divine  oversight.  The  continued  observance  of  one  day  tends  to 
superstition.  A  time  of  worship,  like  a  place  of  worship,  be- 
comes unduly  magnified.    Scripture  proof-texts. 

Sec.  72.  Legislatio.x  as  to  the  Sabbath  :    A  conservative 


THE    SYNOPSIS.  299 


view  will  be  taken  when  the  Sabbath  is  duly  appreciated.  What 
the  "  Christian  Union"  of  May  9th,  1SS9,  says:  Railroads  re- 
ducing Sunday  traffic  to  a  minimum. 

Sec.  73.  Bishop  Whately's  "  Thoughts  on  the  Sabbath  " 
misleading.  Makes  the  law  of  the  Sabbath  merely  positive.  It 
is  a  law  of  the  body  and  the  soul's  nature.  Bishop  Whately 
finds  warrant  in  the  •'  power  of  the  church,"'  but  the  church  used 
no  power.  Doctor  Barnes'  very  pertinent  note  on  the  change  of 
the  Sabbath  day.  The  first-day  Sabbath  instituted  itself  by  the 
logic  of  great  events. 

Sec.  74.  Marriage.  —  Prelude  on  domestic  peace.  The 
authoritv  for  the  marriage  institution.  The  sacredness  of  mar- 
riage.    Its  holy  love.    Scripture  proof-texts. 

The  Conjugal  Law:  Life-long,  permanent  and  exclusive 
union. 

Sec.  7^.  REqiiREMEXTS  ix    Marriage — i.  Compatibility. 

2.  Mutual  affection  and  love;  how  secured — the  nature  of  true 
love;  a  subtle  principle.  Extract  from  Spectator  490,  finely  pre- 
senting this  view. 

3.  Congeniality  in  sentiment  and  taste,  feelings  and  opinions, 
especiallv  in  Avhat  pertains  to  religion  and  conscience. 

4.  Capabilitv  for  the  common  duties  of  life;  each  one's  part. 

5.  Authority;  when  to  be  exercised — the  voice  of  the  man;  the 
voice  of  the  wile. 

Sec.  76.  Prereqiisite  Qj-Alificatioxs. —  r.  A  pure  walk 
and  conversation.  Why  the  virtue  of  purity  is  essential  to  the 
young  man.  Scripture  injunctions. 

2.  Education  Special:  To  fit  for  adversity  or  prosperity. 

3.  Knowledge  of  Requirements:  a.  Of  duties  and  rights;  h.oi 
ctipability  to  meet  them  with  willing  mind;  c.  faults  to  be  con- 
sidered; d.  "Love  is  blind;"  e.  well  to  guard  the  possible  contin- 
gency of  "a  famih-  jar." 

Sec.  77.  Divorce. — The  law  of  it.  Matt.  19  : 9.  When  separa- 
tion. Duty  to  sufi'er  rather  than  to  sunder  the  tie.  Jesus  gives 
the  principle.  Man  should  make  laws  to  put  it  into  practice  as 
near  as  he  can. 

Sec.  7S.  The  Theocracy. — The  Jewish  nationality  a  theo- 
cratic institution.     Its  purpose,  to  make  known  the  one  true  God. 

Historical  Sketch  of  Means  Used:   Abraham's    call.     Joseph 


300         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

under  Providential  care.  Moses  taught  "in  all  the  wisdom  of  the 
Egyptians;"  schooled  into  meekness;  divinely  commissioned  as 
the  leader  and  deliverer  of  his  people. 

The  Moral  Law:  The  discipline  in  the  wilderness;  the  land  of 
promise;  the  ministry  of  the  prophets;  the  captivity  in  Babylon; 
the  Jews,  now  faithful  and  dispersed,  testify  among  all  nations  to 
the  monotheistic  idea — "Ye  are  my  witnesses,  saith  the  Lord;" 
the  grandeur  of  the  Jewish  economy,  as  a  Divine  institution. 
Christianity  evolved  from  it,  enlarges  the  spiritual  idea  to  a  spir- 
itual kingdom;  to  immortality. 

Sec.  79.  The  State  Institutional. — Its  Origin:  In  the 
social  nature;  for  benefits;  for  defense.  These  causes  develop 
patriarchal,  provincial  and  state  government. 

Its  Idea:  Includes  the  idea  of  all  the  institutions  and  laws  that 
necessarily  belong  to  an  ideal  state.  The  existing  state  is  the 
approximate  idea.  England  cited;  its  House  of  Lords;  its  Com- 
mons; as  to  the  fact;  as  to  the  ideal. 

Its  Objects:   I.  Its  duty  in  protection. 

2.  Its  reciprocal  right  of  service. 

3.  Its  duty  as  to  education,  culture,  franchise. 

Sec.  80.  The  Church. — As  an  Institution :  In  the  United 
States,  has  no  authority  in  civil  affairs.  Webster  expounds  the 
Constitution  in  this  regard.  But  religion  is  recognized  by  our 
institutions.  The  union  ofChui-ch  and  State — what  it  means. 
Its  advantages  in  educational  interests;  hence  the  clergy  a  leading 
estate  of  the  kingdom,  and  hence  they  began  to  claim  rights  and 
powers.  The  service  of  the  Church  and  of  the  State  entirely 
distinct,  yet  harmonize  and  tend  in  one  direction. 

Sec.  81.  Disadvantages  of  a  Church  and  State  Un- 
ion.— I.  Inculcates  a  false  idea  of  religion. 

2.  Invests  the  Church  with  dignities  and  duties  not  of  its 
primal  function. 

3.  Invests  the  Government  with  powers  and  duties  that  per- 
tain not  to  it.  "Head  of  the  Church"  a  misnomer  for  Henry 
VIII.     "The  estates  general"  in  France. 

4.  The  Church  and  its  dignitaries  become  jiutlld  up.  What 
is  the  national  church  becomes  questionable.  Contentions, 
wars  and  persecutions  follow.  Revulsion  follows  usurpations 
and  abuse. 


THE   SYNOPSIS.  301 

Sec.  82.  Public  Educatiox. — Institutional:  Already  dis- 
cussed under  the  social,  ethical,  natural,  logical.  Education 
begins  in  the  family;  if  it  ends  here,  is  often  very  defective  from 
ignorance.  Tends  to  evil  from  moral  weakness.  Instance  the 
high  priest  Eli;  his  lack  of  moral  courage  brought  ruin  on  him- 
self and  his  house;  his  grandchild  named  Ichabod — "The  glory  is 
departed;"  and  Ichabod  is  written  in  the  history  of  everj'  people, 
when  in  education,  morality'  and  religion  are  neglected.  War- 
like states  educate  youth  for  martial  purposes;  hence  the  general 
idea  of  the  state's  dutj'  in  education.  Our  system  of  public 
school  education  in  lieu  of  the  national  church  in  general  edu- 
cation. 

Sec.  S3.  F<\mily;  State. — Which  has  the  superiority;  com- 
pared to  a  like  question  between  man  and  wife.  Why  common 
public  schools  must  exist.  The  question  is  not  of  superiority, 
but  is  one  of  duty.  What  duties  in  the  matter  of  education  do 
pertain  to  the  individual,  the  family,  the  state.  When  the  state 
must  assert  authority. 

Sec.  84.  Capital;  Labor — The  Idea. — i.  Capital  {caput) 
implies  wisdom,  not  labor;  includes  power,  machinery,  material, 
and  cash  to  pay  wages. 

2.  Labor  is  not  capital,  and  so  has  no  right  to  profit  and  loss 
as  such,  though  by  agreement  this  may  be  shared. 

3.  The  wages  of  labor  defined;  the  amount,  the  value  of 
wages. 

4.  Value  of  products;  how  estimated,  not  by  the  rate  of 
wages  or  the  cost  of  labor.    Illustrations. 

5.  Value  of  labor  to  the  employer;    how  to  be  detennined. 
Sec.  85.  Union  of  Capital;  of  Labor. — Its  social  aspect; 

its  moral  aspect;  its  ethic  principle.  Example  for  a  proper  labor 
union. 

Sec.  86.  The  union  as  a  regulator  of  wages  must  be 
local  and  special.  In  a  general  combination  there  is  con- 
spiracy involving  unjustifiable  coercion;  stringent  legislation. 

Sec.  87.  Capital  combinations,  as  abnormal,  are  artificial 
and  immoral.  Should  be  a  subject  for  legislation  and  judiciary 
action. 

Sec.  88.  The  labor  union,  as  abnormal,  deadens  the  natural 
laudable  desire  to  excel;   encourages  inefllcicncy;   puts  the  un- 


302         MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  SCIENCE. 

skilled  on  a  par  with  the  skilled;  subjects  the  individual  to  the 
dictum  of  arbitrary  power;  disqualifies  for  freedom  and  civil 
liberty.     Other  evils  of  the  labor  union — eight  of  them. 

Sec.  89.  The  Sum  axd  the  Moral  of  it. — Liberty  en- 
dangered. What  the  evil-minded  imagine;  how  disabused. 
Health  and  happiness  in  small  affairs. 

Two  suggestions:  i.  A  court  of  appeal  to  settle  differences 
where  a  half  million  of  capital  is  used  in  a  business  corpora- 
tion and  five  hundred  men  are  employed;  less  matters  to  be  let 
alone  to  take  care  of  themselves. 

Suggestion  2.  To  regulate  unjust  capital,  co-operative  work, 
in  the  long  run,  is  better  than  "the  strike." 

Sec.  90.  Note  ox  Public  Education — Relative  to  ideas  in 
some  "  papers  "  read  before  the  National  Education  Association, 
at  St.  Paul.  Minn.,  in  July,  1S90. 


INDE- 


PAGE 

AcHAx:    The   story  of  his   coveting  used   to  illustrate  the 

metaphysics  of  morals       ......  91 

Affections:    Defined;  when  become  sentiments         .         .      74 
Allegory:    Of  the  vine;  its  application    ....  17 

Amusement:    The  ethic  of  it 152 

Ancient  Philosophy:     Inquires  of  nature,   14;  does  not 
directly  seek  within  nature;   what  clue  to  truth,  20; 
comes  upon  the  trail  to  man"s  soul  nature,  yet  always 
seeks  the  chief-good       .......      22 

Appetency:    Of  the  soul  for  the  beautiful,  true,  right     .  30 

Appetites:    Definition  and  use      ......      73 

Barnes  Alb't.:    His  note  on  the  Christian  Sabbath  .         .    225 
Beatitudes:    General  view;   ethic  character  .         .         loi 

Benevolence:    The  ethic  of  it 150 

Blackstone:    On  property  rights     .....         173 

Capital:    Implies    wisdom;    its    idea    includes   the    use    of 
power,  material  and  cash,  245;  its  ethic-principle,  250; 
when  abnormal       ........    252 

Categories:    Of  thought  have  a  /'>■  fori  origin.  12;  of  quan- 
tity, of  quality,  57;  give  rise  to  judgments  ...      67 
Categorical-Imperative:    The  idea  of  it,   16;  the  wide 

ground  for  its  ii  priori  character  .....      23 

Casuistry:    Defined,  applied,  197;  its  ethic    .         .         .         198 
Certitude:    Kant  finds  it  in  the  ethic  ground-principle     .      23 
Charity:   The  greatest  of  the  virtues       ....         121 

Character:    Self-intuited  as  good  or  bad    ....      23 

Chief-Good:    Was  the  search  of  Ancient  philosophy;  is  an 

outflow  from  its  source  in  the  true  moral  nature        .  22-3S 
Children:    Have  rights;  Scripture  injunctions        .         .         14S 
Church:   Its  union  with  the  state  logically  impossible  when 

we  hold  to  the  true   idea  of  each  ....     23S 

303 


304  INDEX. 

Cicero,  in  De  Officiis:    His  question  of  duty,  12;  his  di- 
vision   of    it;     his   enwrapt   gaze,    and    his    eloquent 
words  upon  the  features  of  virtue,  13;  refers  duties  to' 
principles  of  nature;  his  error  in  this  regard   .         .  20 

Christianity:    How  ditiers  from  religion  of  nature  .         .      35 
CoNSTiTLTiox:    The  Creation  of  a  right  one   conceivable, 

but  not  that  of  a  wrong  one;  illustrated  ...  26 
Conscience:  A  joint  action  of  faculties;  its  office,  53;  its 
function  and  power  illustrated,  54;  as  of  the  sensibil- 
itv,  it  alone  has  authority,  56;  why  called  co7iscicntia, 
58;  its  auxiliaries,  59;  views  of  it  as  a  product  of  force, . 
et  ca-tera     .........     59-^0 

Creator:    His  authority  self-evident 24 

Daniel:    His  persistence  in  prayer  .....         129 

David:    The  King;  his  prayer,  his  thoughts  .         .         .     134 

Decalogue:    The  authority  in  it,  98;   its  first  three   com- 
mandments relate  to  the  ground  of  right  in  the  great 
Lawgiver    .........  98 

Deceit:   In  buying  and  selling,  194;  as  to  an  enemy  ]'i>-gil 

quoted;   its  ethic  principle;  Kant's  opinion      .         .         195 
Decision:    Napoleon  I.  and  Washington  instanced;  decision 
of    character   conjoined    with    high    moral    elements 
fruitful  in  good  works         .....         145-146 

Desires:    The  different  kinds 73 

Dido,  Queen:    Her  word  of  welcome  to  the  Trojan  hero, 

152;  her  purchase  of  the  site  of  Carthage        .         .         170 
Discipline:    What  we  do,  must  be  well  done      .         .         .    146 
Duty:    Our  intuition  of  it  is  prior  to  knowledge,  24;  in  the 
abstract  is  posited  as  an  element  in  the  moral  nature; 
the  true  ground  of  duty,  27;  the  idea  of  it  arises  from 
a  certain  moral  element.  Si;    involves    feeling   more 
than  intellect,  83;  defined  and  illustrated;  the  element 
in  all  moral  relations      .         .         .         .         .         .         ,128 

Duty  of  interest  in  civil  affairs  ....         iSi 

Duties:    To  God,  128;  first  in  time   and   in   value,   131;   to 
man,   135;  individual,   135;  parental,   147;  social,  gen- 
eral view,  149;  national,   156;  civil         ....    178 

Economy:    Defined,  discussed 114 


IXDEX.  305 


Edicatiox:    Natural,  209;  begins  in  the  faniil}-,  and  is  often 

defective  there;  Scripture  instance,  Ichabod     .         242-243 
Public:    Its  ends,  diverse  views  as  to  morals,  religion, 
256;   conscience-scruples,   257;    stamp  of  catholicity, 
25S;  sectarian  dogma,  church  polity,  creed,  259;  txvo 
lilies  of  duty       ......••  -00 

Empiric:    The  empiric  and  the  metaphysic  of  the  soul  not 

opposed       ....•••••  95 

Ethics:  As  a  science  is  based  in  the  moral  nature;  is  the 
application  of  principles;  Scripture  ethics  are  both 
"the  ought"  and  the  contra,  the  authoritative  "ought 
r\oX  "()•]:  political,  their  special  subjects,  154;  as  ap- 
plied to  international  lasv 156 

Experience:    As  affected  by   a  priori  faculties;  what  it 

means.     [See  Explanatory  Notes,  §§  6,  7.] 
Faith;    The  faith  monument,  SS;  defined,  131;  origin  .     132 

View  of  Dante  as  to  its  Divine  origin      .         .         .         275 
FKCciALiTY:    Defined,  illustrated  ......     112 

Friendship:    Defined;    its  quality;    illustrations,    125;    the 

ethic  of  it i-f> 

Family:  Which  has  superiority— the  family  or  the  state?  244 
Geometry:    A  science  originating  in  intellect,  not  in  nature    25 

Golden   Rule:    It  has  universality 49 

Good:  "Good,"  the  Divine  cognition  of  quality-  in  the  crea- 
tion. 26,  212;  "the  good,"  how  known  as  a  principle, 
2^;  posited  as  an  element  in  the  moral-nature,  26;  dis- 
tinguished from  "a  good,"  44;  '"the  highest  good," 
when  attained  to  .....-••  45 
Good-Will:    In  unison  with  universal  law;  presupposes  an 

inner  fount  of  love -7 

Graham:    His  lines  on  the  Sabbath  ....         212 

CJRAViTY:  Its  law;  accords  with  that  of  the  circle  .  .  21; 
Haven,  Dr:    Grounds  right  in  '"the  nature  of  things"  .  i>4 

Habit:   The  ethic  character  in  it 140 

Health:    Hygienic  maxims 135 

Henry  VIII:  His  Pope  title;  his  Parliament  title  .  .  20b 
Holy  Writ:  Its  law- as  to  the  day  of  rest  .  .  .  211 
Homologia:    Analogous  to  the  will  and  the  moral  nature  in 

agreement  .........  20 


30G  INDEX. 

iiONOR:    A  nice  sense  of  right;  illustrations  .         .         .     126 

Hope:   Its    visions,    leadings,   grounds,    132;    its  origin,  the 

soul's    anchor;    the   spirit's  eve         ....         133 

Hospitality:    A  virtue  generally  honored;  examples     .         151 
Hume,  Daviu:    His  philosophy,  his  skeptical  view      .         .       11 
Idolatry:    Prohibited  in  the  second  commandment        .  98 

Imagination:   Productive,  reproductive,  /(?«f v.        .         269-170 
Industry:    Defined;  when  a  virtue;  Scripture  illustrations     11 1 
Institutions:    Numerous;  as  to  character — good,  bad,  200;     • 
as  to  the  idea — Dr.  Lieber's  idea;   Dr.  Arnold's,  203; 
as  to  kind,  natural,  logical,  artificial     ....    205 

Juvenal:    His  advice  in  the  cai'e  of  children  .         .         .         149 
Kant:    His    ground-principle,    22;    his    categorical-impera- 
tive— universal  law;  his  philosophy  critical,  and  spe- 
cially the  practical  gives    an    a   priori   character    to 
knowledge .........  23 

Knowledge:    Conditioned  on  a  sensuous  content,  23;  when 

good,  when  evil  .......  20 

Labor:    Ethic  and  practical   views,    136;   of  Walter   Scott 
and  Carlyle,  13S;  its  office,  wages  and  value,  247;  its 
union,  249;  when  abnormal   ......     252 

Law:    Of  the    moral    nature;    its  certainty;    moral  law  de- 
fined, 45;   its  authority,  47;  written  moral  defined,  46; 
stringent,    necessary,    99;     obedience    to    it,    179;    ex- 
ception   ..........     180 

Land:  The  perfect  title  to  it  in  the  United  States  .  .  172 
Liberty:  The  substance  of  it;  guarantees;  independence; 
autonomy,  158;  its  very  substance  is  in  the  character 
of  the  man,  160;  religious — needs  protection,  162;  its 
law,  163;  personal,  the  rule  of  it,  164;  civil — arises 
from:  means  what,  177;  of  speech — its  fair  side,  1S5; 
the  anarchist — idea  of  it,  186;  the  correct  theory,  187; 
J.  S.  Mill's  limitations,  18S;  Leo  X Ill's  limitations  .  1S9 
Locke:    His  theoretical  ground  of  knowledge  ...  11 

Love:  As  moral  consists  in  what;  is  pure  feeling,  but  under 
guidance  of  reason  is  called  rational;  develojis  in  ac- 
cord with  its  object;  its  constitutional  law,  ,74;  as  to 
God;  as  to  man;  as  to  one's  country,  75;  its  ground- 
principle  in    the   love  of  the  true  and  the  right,  78; 


IXDEX.  307 

self-love  instinctive,  sni  generis;   relates  to  preserva- 
tion;  is   not  selfish,  79;    love  to  neighbor  grounded  in 
moral  love;   scope  of  the  second  great  commandment,     80 
Max:    His  nature  fourfold.  39;  a  spirit       ....  41 

Magna  Charta:    Its  origin;  value;  articles         .         .         .    160 
Marriage:    The  authority  for  it,  226;  its  law.  blessings,  re- 
quirements, 227;  its  prerequisites,  231;  divorce         .         233 
Mercy:    As  defined  in  Scripture.  105;  in  Shakspeare  .         .     106 
Mind:    Dominates    matter;    the    creative  preceded  laws  of 

nature  .........     -4~-.'i 

Metaphysic:    Its  meaning  and  as  applied  to  morals  .         .      92 
Morality:    Relates  to  the    rational,  sentimental,  spiritual; 
its  ground  and  its  ultimate  end  distinguished,   27;    dis- 
tinct from  religion    vet   inseparable;   defined  by  Web- 
ster       29 

Moral:    "The  moral"  distinct  trom  "the  religious,"  30;  its 

origin  constitutional        .......       3^^ 

JiIoRAL  Nature:    Its  function  and  auxiliary  powers,  40;  its 

relation  to  Ihe  intellect  and  will        ....  70 

^f.IoRAL  Law:    Its    ethic    utterance    in    the    ten    command- 
ments     ......••■•      9^ 

Moses:    His  objections  valid:  subsequent  alacrity, 33;   meek 

aboxe  all  men     .         .         .         .         .         •         •         ■         104 

Moore,  Hannah:    On  economy    .         .         .         .         •         •     I'-l 

Nature:    Her  leadings.  16;  her  elements  lie  concealed     .         24 
Noumenal:    Is  the  realm  in  nature  beyond  our  cognition  24 

Obedience:    The  ground  of  duty  .....      24 

Observation:    Of  the  frivolous,  a  waste  of  time         .         .     144 
Oaths:    The  true  ideal  of  Jesus  .....         192 

Patriotism:    Noted  instances.  122;    how  inspired,  123;   the 

abuse  of  the  sentiment    .         .         .         .         •         .         .124 

Parental:    duties — the    law  of  authority — firm  not  harsh 

patience;  the  Scripture  precept  .  .  .  147-14S 
Porter:  President,  his  view  and  theory  of  the  conscience  .  59 
Pollok:    His  lines  on  friendship        .         .         .         .         .         125 

Philanthropy:  John  Brown's  lines 151 

Puritan  and  Pilgrim 88 

Prayer:    The  dutv  of  it;  instances 129 


/ 
:J08  INDEX. 


Praise:    A  dutj'  and  a  delight 130 

Principle:    As  related  to  practice         .....      87 

Plato:    Sought  philosophy  in  nature;  held  the  chief-good  to 
be  in  things  requisite;  places  happy  life  in  virtue  and  in 
whatever  adds  to  it;  his  ideal  republic,  14;    his  educa- 
tional scheme,  15;  its  defect,  16;  his  Divine  in  the  idea     15 
Pythian  Apollo:    Enjoins  us  "to  know  ourselves"         .  ig 

Peripatetic:    Follows  nature;  his  happy  life  calls  for  con- 
ditions consonant  with  nature;  as  distinguished  from 
the  Stoic         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .21 

Phenomenal:    The  world  we  perceive  and  know  .         .  24 

Pure:    The  pure  in  heart;  pure  walk 231 

Purity:    The  hearthstone  virtue         .         .         '         .         .         iiS 
Prudence:    Webster's    definition;    Scripture    illustrations, 

115;  the  Scottish  bard,  116;  prudence  for  girls     .         .     117 
Reason:    Defined,  its  function  ......  40 

Religion:  defined  by  Webster,  by  Cicero;  false  ideas  of  it, 
29;  true  religion  as  related  to  morality;  is  a  natural 
law  in  man;  is  a  sentiment  of  love  for  the  Supreme; 
could  have  no  existence  without  the  moral  element,  30; 
false  religion  known  by  immoral  doctrine  and  worship, 
31;  its  object;  its  origin  in  nature;  its  cultivation,  49; 
leavens  morality;  its  focal  points,  50;  its  ethic  charac- 
ter;   question  of  duty 142 

Reputation:    Its  value;  mean  motives  injure      .         .         .    199 
Right:    Primarily  grounded  in  the  Divine  constitution,  83; 

secondarily  in  man's  nature;  in  authority         .         .  86 

Rights:    conflict;  example,  164;    and  duties  reciprocal,  166; 

right  to  property;  its  origin,  16S;  civil  .         .         -^77 

Saul:    Responsible  for  his  fault         .....  46 

Soul:    The  seat  of  the  affections;  its  states    ....      41 

Science:    Of  religion — objections   to   11,32;  excludes  secta- 
rianism       .........  38 

Schlegel:    His  view  of  the  soul  in  philosophy  of  life         .      271 
Sovereignty:    Of  God  none  question       ....  98 

Self-Control:    a  virtue;  its  definition         .         .         .         .117 

Sincerity:    Defined;  illustrated        .         .      ^        .         .         120 
Scott,  Walter:   on  patriotism 122 


INDEX.  309 


Solomon:    Hisi  prayer ,  i-9 

Self-Preservation:    A  natural  instinct;  as  a  duty  .         .     135 
Self-Examination:    Requires  moral  courage        .         .         136 

Seneca:    On  the  employment  ot"  time 143 

Sentiments:    When  affections  become  sentiments  .  74 

Sabbath:    Governmental     inquiry      and     discussion,    210; 
reason    for  its   institution,    213;    the    time,    215;    why 
enters  into  the  civil  code,  215;    a  universal  law  with 
special  applications;  Scripture  precepts;  its  true  spirit- 
ual observance,  217;  legislation  relative  to  it     .         .         224 
Schools,  PiBLic:    As  an  institution  natural,  logical  .         .    209 
State:    Its  origin,  idea,  object,  236;  what  is  due  to  it;  what 

it  owes         ......•••         -37 

SfFFRAliE:    A  conditional  right;  in  U.  S.  too  little  restric- 
tion                i83~iS4 

Scbstratlm:    For  a  certain  form  or  order  of  nature       .  24 

Taste  AND  Culture:    Advantages,  145;  Dr.  Blair         .     291 
Theocracy:    In  the  Jewish  nationality,  its  purpose         .         235 

Time:    The  ethic  of  its  use i43 

Temper:    Its  ethic  character;  value  of  a  good  temper      .         142 
Temperance:    Secured  by  discretion;  its  advantages  .    141 

Tully:    On  virtue  and  decency no 

Transcendental:  As  to  faculties  determining  phenomena     24 
"The  True,"  and  the  Right  Loved  for  its  Own  Sake: 
Dominates    in    all    moral    relation,    28;    distinguished 

from  truth  . 45 

Universal:    Principle,  22;   law.  23;  as  to  the  supreme       .      24 
Understanding:    Its  faculties;  its  function    ...  39 

Vanderbilt,    Cor.:    His  interest    in    restriction  of  R.  R. 

traffic :;24 

Veracity:    Nature  inclines  to  truth,  190;  enforced  in  Scrip- 
ture precepts 191 

Virtues:    General  view 108 

Vocation:   The  ethic  of  it 139 

Webster,"  Daniel:  On  the  patriotism  of '76,  122;  expounds 

as  to    church,  state,  religion 23S 

W\\yland:    His  moral  science,  45;    authority  of  conscience     57 
Williams,   Roger:     The    personification  of  soul    liberty, 

88;  his  friendly  greeting  by  Indians  .         .         .         152 


310  INDEX. 


Will:  The  will,  the  first  object  in  moral  vision,  58;  its  func- 
tion; its  freedom,  70;  the  idea  in  its  freedom;  will 
action  is  spontaneity,  71;  the  true  doctrine  of  the 
will,  its  definition;  its  personality  ....      72 

Whately,  Bishop:    His  Sabbath  law  a  mere  positive  one  .    225 
Worship:    In  spirit  and  in  truth — ^Jesus   taught — obedience 

requisite 99 


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